ALMOST one in five employers in Scotland are likely to make staff redundancies in the year ahead, according to a new survey commissioned by The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS).
19% of businesses based in Scotland are likely to make redundancies in the next 12 months, according to the results, with a further 9% stating they were unsure.
Acas Scotland director Frank Blair said: “Our advice is that bosses should exhaust all possible alternatives to redundancies first, but if employers feel like they have no choice then they must follow the law in this area, or they could be subject to a costly legal process.”
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Commenting on the findings, STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said: “It’s entirely indicative of today’s volatile labour market that almost 20% of employers are seeking to make redundancies. Companies should not be using workers as expendable cannon fodder as they seek to recover from the pandemic.
“Our strong advice to all workers concerned is to join a trade union. The Scottish Government cannot ignore a potential redundancy tsunami across the country. If Fair Work is to be more than just a slogan, the government must place collective and sectoral bargaining at the core of protecting these workers from the grim reality of the redundancy process.”
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