
Remember the P&O fire and rehire scandal? A final draft of the statutory code on dismissal and re-engagement has now been laid before Parliament, Charles Pigott writes in this week’s NLJ
Pigott, professional support lawyer, Mills & Reeve, reviews the contents of the draft code, which was prompted by P&O’s firing of 800 seafarers without consultation in 2022. It is due to take effect in the summer.
He sets the code in context, writing that it ‘sits in an area occupied by a large number of overlapping legal provisions’, and highlights some shortfalls. As for what the draft code achieves, Pigott writes: ‘The key change is that the revised draft presents the steps an employer is required to take in a more logical order.’