Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect at work

This practice consists of employees being laid off and told to reapply for their jobs on worse terms and conditions.

The Fire and Rehire practice is not only being deployed by smaller employers but large ones too.

A case in point is British Gas who changed the contracts of their engineers, causing them diminutions in their conditions of employment and which now is leading them to take Strike action with the support of the GMB Trade Union.

The TUC has been expressing concern about the practice of Fire and Hire since the first lockdown in March 2020. Their research highlights that almost one in ten workers have been told to reapply for their jobs on worse terms and conditions since the first lockdown in March 2020.

This is concerning for younger people who are disproportionally represented in this practice happening to them with one in five 18- to 24-year-olds highlighting that their employer has tried to rehire them on worse terms during the pandemic.

Another group which has also been suffering even more detriment with the Hire and Fire practice rolling out and escalating across the UK, including in our area, are black and other minority ethnic workers who are almost twice as likely as white British workers to face Fire and Rehire practices.

The downgrading of terms and conditions being deployed by employers as part of the Fire and Hire practices widely occurring and accruing, includes reductions in pay and changes to hours.

In an area already hit hard over many years by the loss of its heavy industry and with the escalation in businesses going to the wall due to the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Sheffield and the whole of South Yorkshire cannot afford for those remaining in employment to be exploited and ill treated under cover of Covid-19 causation.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect at work. Forcing people to reapply for their jobs on worse terms and conditions is plain wrong’

"Fire-and-rehire tactics have no place in modern Britain and must be outlawed. The Prime Minister promised to make the UK the best place in the world to work in. It's high time he delivered on this promise. That means fast-tracking his much-delayed Employment Bill, and it means abandoning any attempt to water down hard-won workers' rights from the EU."

A Business Department spokesperson said: "While we recognise the impact Covid-19 has had on businesses means that changes to contract terms may be necessary in certain circumstances, using fire and rehire tactics is completely unacceptable.

We expect companies to treat their employees fairly, and employers should meet with affected employees or union representatives to explain their case for changing contracts.

We have asked Acas to look into how fire and rehire tactics have been used, and they are currently gathering evidence on the issue from business and employee representatives."

This attack on workers entitlements in respect of their terms and conditions is a human story. Workers and their families are already living under enough uncertainty, stress and worry due to Covid -19 without having to be subject to diminutions in their working conditions . This widespread downgrading of conditions is causing workers and their families suffering, some unable to meet their living costs due to cuts in their wages. It’s a scandal that should never have happened and certainly should not have gone on as long as it had done, and now necessitating for the TUC to jump in , to remind Government of their duties and responsibilities , including their duty of purview and their duty of care to the UK’s workforce.

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a digital subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.