§ Mr. Trippierasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he plans to alter the wording of short-time working compensation forms seeking, on the first application by an employer, an assurance that the employees covered by the short-time working compensation scheme will not be made redundant at the end of the short-time working compensation.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonA change in the wording of the application form for temporary short-time working compensation was introduced with effect from 1 April 1981. The employer is now asked to sign a declaration that he does not expect to have to declare jobs redundant which have been safeguarded under the scheme. This is a way of making explicit what was already seen as the major purpose of the scheme, which seeks to prevent jobs which are thought to have a longer-term future from being lost through short-term difficulties.