Clause 36 - Removal of exemption for small employers
Employment Bill
5:45 pm
Mr Rob Marris (Wolverhampton South West, Labour)
I seek clarification. If I read the amendment correctly, it would set a trap for small employers. Let us take the example of the plumber who employs his mate. The mate is the only employee; therefore, because there are fewer than six employees, the plumber does not have to give his mate a note of the statutory minimum procedure under schedule 2, on which the Committee has agreed. They fall out, the mate goes to the citizens advice bureau and finds out about the minimum procedure, of which the plumber was not aware. The mate then wins an employment tribunal case under section 98A(1), as inserted by clause 34, because the plumber did not comply with the statutory minimum procedure in schedule 2.
The amendment would make the cure worse than the disease. When someone becomes an employer, whether a plumber or an accountant, they should get it right and learn good habits from day one. That way, they would not be subject to traps such as the one that the amendment would set.