Great Britain: fears spark over a ‘fire-and-rehire’ wave after British Gas lays off gas engineers

Nearly 500 British Gas engineers recently lost their jobs after they refused to sign up to new employment contract terms that included lower pay and longer hours, under the employer’s ‘fire-and-rehire’ practice. With this practice the employer offers the employee the opportunity to resign in order to sign a new, less advantageous contract, and the employee knows that if s/he refuses the new terms then s/he will be laid off. Perceived as a lifeline by some companies amid the current health crisis, this process is now becoming commonplace and trade unions are raising alarm bells. Expert opinion on the practice has been mixed.