Category: redundancy

Thames Water announces it is to consult on axing 300 jobs

Thames Water, the UK’s largest water company, has announced the start of a consultation to remove over 300 roles in order to “reduce costs further and become more efficient”. This could mean over 140 redundancies, and many roles axed through the removal of vacancies.

As the largest union in the employer, UNISON is raising serious concerns about the proposals – for example, whether sufficient analysis has been done on the impact of the job cuts on workloads and whether there have been more vacancies removed over the past month than have been quoted.

The consultation also comes as the company is still working through this year’s severely delayed pay negotiations, with the union having been told that, if the implementation of the pay deal happens after December, staff who are being made redundant would not receive the backpay and bonus payment they are due.

This raises significant questions about whether workers facing redundancy would be forced into voting to accept an unsatisfactory offer for fear of losing out entirely.

UNISON regional organiser Jay Williams said: “UNISON has long argued the workforce is Thames Water’s greatest asset. Forcing redundancies to secure the profit margin for shareholders is not only short-sighted, but an affront to the workforce and customers alike.

“As well as there being devastating consequences for those facing the axe, their colleagues will have to take the strain of an increased workload. Services to customers will no doubt worsen as a result.

“UNISON will fight to protect jobs. But this announcement must be added to the ever-growing list of reasons why the water industry would be better off in public hands.”

The article Thames Water announces it is to consult on axing 300 jobs first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Thames Water announces it is to consult on axing 300 jobs

Thames Water, the UK’s largest water company, has announced the start of a consultation to remove over 300 roles in order to “reduce costs further and become more efficient”. This could mean over 140 redundancies, and many roles axed through the removal of vacancies.

As the largest union in the employer, UNISON is raising serious concerns about the proposals – for example, whether sufficient analysis has been done on the impact of the job cuts on workloads and whether there have been more vacancies removed over the past month than have been quoted.

The consultation also comes as the company is still working through this year’s severely delayed pay negotiations, with the union having been told that, if the implementation of the pay deal happens after December, staff who are being made redundant would not receive the backpay and bonus payment they are due.

This raises significant questions about whether workers facing redundancy would be forced into voting to accept an unsatisfactory offer for fear of losing out entirely.

UNISON regional organiser Jay Williams said: “UNISON has long argued the workforce is Thames Water’s greatest asset. Forcing redundancies to secure the profit margin for shareholders is not only short-sighted, but an affront to the workforce and customers alike.

“As well as there being devastating consequences for those facing the axe, their colleagues will have to take the strain of an increased workload. Services to customers will no doubt worsen as a result.

“UNISON will fight to protect jobs. But this announcement must be added to the ever-growing list of reasons why the water industry would be better off in public hands.”

The article Thames Water announces it is to consult on axing 300 jobs first appeared on the UNISON National site.

Blog: A significant step forward for pregnant workers and new parents

The beginning of February marked a significant step forward for pregnant workers and new parents, as a bill to provide new and expecting parents with additional protections in the workplace passed its third reading.

UNISON worked with Dan Jarvis MP on the new law – the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill – to prevent employers from laying off expectant mothers and new parents, by extending redundancy protections to six months.

Raising a family is becoming even more expensive as the cost of living crisis continues. What new parents often need most is job security, but pregnant workers and new parents are too often first in line for redundancy.

Around three quarters of working people currently experience maternity discrimination and 54,000 pregnant women are forced out of their jobs each year.

In theory, the law already gives women on maternity leave priority over other employees at risk of redundancy – a woman on maternity leave is “entitled to be offered” any suitable alternative vacancy, where one is available, as soon as her job is at risk of redundancy.

However, in practice, this is often not happening. Those who have just given birth or have been away from the workplace for months, are unlikely to pursue an employment tribunal claim. So, it’s hardly surprising that maternity discrimination cases form a disproportionately large percentage of UNISON’s legal caseload.

To make matters worse, many maternity protections are under attack through the Retained EU Law Bill, including protections against discrimination for pregnant women and women on maternity leave, and the right to suitable alternative work on no less favourable terms.

Without these core protections, UK workers – especially women – will be thrown back to the 1970s, which means the bill is even more urgent.

This new law will represent a significant win for UNISON members as well as add greater workplace protections to the statute book, and I hope it receives the full support of the House of Lords too.

The article Blog: A significant step forward for pregnant workers and new parents first appeared on the UNISON National site.