Employment Tribunal Reforms

09-Dec-2011

Our employment lawyers have contributed to the Government’s response to the Resolving Workplace Disputes consultation, which was published on 23rd November 2011.

 

Below we outline exactly what is going to change and when, and how the changes will impact on you and your business.

 

Changes to Employment Tribunal legislation to be implemented

By April 2012, the following changes will be brought into force:

 

1. There will be an increase in the maximum costs and deposit orders;
2. As standard practice, witness statements are to be “taken as read”;
3. Witness expenses are no longer to be reclaimable from the State;
4. Judges are to sit alone on cases of Unfair Dismissal;
5. An increase in the qualifying period for Unfair Dismissal from one year to two years.

 

Other Proposals

The following proposals have yet to be put out to consultation:
1. Protected conversations i.e. employers and employees having open conversations about work issues knowing that those conversations cannot be referred to in subsequent Tribunal proceedings;
2. Rapid Resolution – a system of quicker, cheaper and non-judicial determination of cases;
3. Introduction of fees for lodging and pursuing claims in the Employment Tribunal.

 

Our Key Summary of the Changes and Proposals

• Many of the Government’s more eye-catching proposals have yet to move forward. The ex-president of the EAT, Mr Justice Underhill, will be undertaking a review of the existing Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure, following which the Government will publish its final proposals on matters such as extending the power to strike out weak claims.
• The proposal to take witness statements as read (i.e. not to require witnesses to read their statements out loud) is to be welcomed. In our opinion, this will greatly speed up the hearing process and more cases are likely to be completed within their allotted time frame, which is especially important given the new requirement to list unfair dismissal cases for one day only (see our November round-up for further information).
• In contrast to the views expressed by the respondents, including ours, the Government has decided to press ahead and remove lay members from unfair dismissal cases. In our opinion, lay members have much to add to such cases, bringing their industrial experience to bear in determining the facts often in dispute. So this is not the most positive change.
• A major announcement was that the qualifying period for unfair dismissal will be increased to two years. Whilst this is likely to be a popular move with businesses, we are concerned that this may encourage employees to lodge other claims for which no qualifying period is required, e.g. whistle blowing, discrimination, and breach of contract. Such claims are unusually far more complex, time consuming and costly for employers to defend than unfair dismissal claims. Contrary to the belief that employers can now sack staff at leisure, dismissals will still need to be carried out in accordance with the contract of employment and for non discriminatory reasons.

 

If any of the changes or proposals raise an issue for you and your business, or if you would to find out more about the consultation contact our employment lawyers

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