The Government has announced new areas that it will consider reforming as part of its review of employment red tape – including collective redundancy consultation periods, the Transfer Undertakings Protection of Employment Regulations (TUPE) and compensation for discrimination awarded by employment tribunals.

One hundred and seventeen former employees of a Borders knitwear firm have been awarded over £350,000 compensation after an Edinburgh employment tribunal ruled that they had been made redundant illegally.

Redundancies look set to rise sharply in the first quarter of 2011 in the public sector as Government cuts bite, according to this quarter’s Labour Market Outlook from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and KPMG. However, job creation in the private sector offers some hope to the overall employment picture.