The Manual of Industrial Relations
Page 15
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• Bowes Egan has written a number of' successful books on the impact of new law on commerce; one was on the Trade Descriptions Act. His latest book, The Manual of Industrial Relations (published by Industrial Relations Advisers, 48 Notting Hill Gate, London W II, at £.3), consists of a 25,000-word commentary on the Act, which is itself published in full. Mr Egan thinks that many curious complications will stem from the new law and prove to cause serious shock and disappointment to industry. For example, he says that in 1971 awards have been made to claimants of redundancy payment entitlements averaging about £10m a month. Such compensation is awarded in the first place against the employer who recoups a percentage from the Government. But when Section 22 of the new law takes effect it is anticipated that as many as half of those who want to claim redundancy payments under present law will complain of unfair dismissal-instead.
Where an award is made against an employer who is held to have unfairly dismissed an employee, no recourse to public funds will be available. Mr Egan reckons that during a period of 18 months from the commencement of S. 22 a direct new burden of about £50m will be imposed on industry, not counting the increased volume of claims anticipated. This may explain why S. 22 has not yet been introduced.