1.111 The Government is committed to making it as easy as possible for people to find work by reducing the burden of complying with employment law. The Government is increasing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from one year to two years from April 2012 to help address employers' fears about the risks of taking on a new member of staff. The Government will also introduce fees for individuals who want to bring cases to employment tribunals and will consult on the level of fees. Potential claimants will be less likely to pursue this option unless the employer has a genuine case to answer.
1.112 The recently announced outcomes of the employment law Red Tape Challenge set out actions to remove barriers to hiring. As part of this the Government will:
• look for ways to provide a quicker and cheaper alternative to a tribunal hearing in simple cases - a 'Rapid Resolution' scheme;
• complete a call for evidence on the effectiveness of the TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings - Protection of Employment) regulations and will consult on proposals for any changes in early 2012;
• complete a call for evidence on the impact of reducing the collective redundancy process for redundancies of 100 or more staff from the current 90 days to 60, 45 or 30 days; and
• begin a call for evidence on two proposals for radical reform of UK employment law. First, the Government will seek views on the introduction of compensated no-fault dismissal for micro-businesses with fewer than 10 employees. Second, the Government will consider how it could move to a simpler, quicker and clearer dismissal process, potentially including working with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) to make changes to their Code or by introducing supplementary guidance for small businesses.
1.113 To ensure effective delivery of its broader deregulatory agenda the Government will:
• launch a review of regulators to ensure that enforcement arrangements are appropriate, proportionate, ft for purpose and risk-based, in order to tackle heavy handed, prescriptive and inefficient enforcement, and build on good practice where it exists; and
• accept the recommendations of Professor Löfstedt's review of health and safety regulation and look to go further as part of the Red Tape Challenge.