Employers could be forced to reinstate sacked workers when the Employment Act 2000 comes in to force next month.

Lawyer Juliana Jack, of the Employment Law Alliance, an international body of lawyers interested in labour law, said the act was Draconian and could scare away international business.

From March 1, sacked workers can appeal to a 12 member Employment tribunal if they think they have been unfairly dismissed with reinstatement being an option if the tribunal finds in their favour. Ms Jack said this went against common law which found that it was impossible to compel people to work with each other.

She said: "How do you make two people continue to work together after there has been a dismissal, which turns out to have been unfair, with all the negatives that process involved?

"Many in Bermuda consider the remedy of reinstatement to be overly invasive and far too onerous for smaller businesses that depend on each and every member of their staff in order to survive in a competitive marketplace."

She said in the UK and Canada forced reinstatement is rarely used because of this. "My view is that if that is the case, then it shouldn't be in there in the first place. In countries where jobs are scarce and the workforce is largely unskilled, legislated reinstatement is justified. This is not the case in Bermuda."

She said employers were calling for those earning more than $150,000 to be exempted from reinstatement.

"Are we really going to have this new tribunal telling Brian O'Hara of XL that he's got to rehire a secretary because XL failed to rebut the presumption against it that the dismissal of the employee was unfair? What implications does this have for international business doing business in Bermuda?"

She said the act could be end up be challenged in the courts under the ground that is was unconstitutional because it violated the basic right of freedom of association.

But she said the practical implications of the act would be that employers would have to pay more to settle cases rather than reinstate employees.

Bermuda Industrial Union president Derrick Burgess said: "That's the way it should be.

"If your boss fires you for no reason that's traumatic, particularly if you haven't done anything wrong. It damages your life and your feelings. Bosses should pay for that. The package has always been negotiable."

Ms Jack said the act guarantees employers virtual ownership of their jobs.

But Mr. Burgess dismissed this and pointed out that employers would have the chance to put their case at the hearing which could find in their favour.

The law comes into affect on March 1 but there is a one-year transition period.