07 April 2026
The policy team has formally submitted its response to the Department for Business and Trade’s (DBT) consultation on Make Work Pay: fire and rehire – changes to expenses, benefits, and shift patterns.
Fire and rehire refers to the process of an employer dismissing an employee and then re-employing them (or someone else) under a new contract, usually with less favourable terms and conditions. The Employment Rights Act 2025 will introduce new protections to prevent unscrupulous fire and rehire practices. The act will, once commenced, make it an automatic unfair dismissal where an employee is dismissed or replaced in order to make changes to core terms in their employment contract (protected as ‘restricted variations’).
The consultation focused on the on which expenses, benefits, and shift changes should be covered by these protections. The aim is to protect employees from negative changes to their employment contracts, while still letting businesses adapt when needed.
You can read the response in full on our consultations page.
Take a look and if you have any further feedback, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. There may still be opportunities for engagement and conversations with the policy representatives at HMRC, it is never too late to get your voice heard.
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