Trebling the period of notice to employers whose staff are going on operations with Britain’s military reserve forces is vital to ensure that more reservists are hired. 

Tim Corry, director of SaBRE, an organisation that helps employers hire reservists, told Recruiter that the current 28 days notice ahead of mobilisation for up to six months at a time is “not enough” when employers are hiring replacement staff, who may also be on four weeks’ notice. 

Corry’s comments come ahead of a government White Paper due to be published by early July. There is pressure on the government to make changes to encourage more employers to hire Britain’s reservists if the Territorial Army (TA) is to hit its trained strength of 30,000 by 2018, and 35,000 across all three services by 2020. The TA is currently 19,000-strong. 

Earlier this year, a Federation of Small Business survey found that 48% of employers favoured two or three months’ notice, while 30% wanted help in finding replacement staff.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson told Recruiter: “We will set out our plans in the Reserves White Paper due to be published later this year.”

Colin Cottell