| Planned Tribunal Reform |
Employment Tribunal ReformsSome of you may have seen in the news at the end of January that David Cameron and the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, have announced proposed fundamental reforms to the Employment Tribunal system. The headline proposals are as follows:
Comment The proposals announced remain subject to consultation and therefore watch this space to see if they become law and if so in what form. Overall the announcements are to be welcomed for employers but are likely to be fiercely resisted by the Trade Unions and Claimant’s solicitors. We at MILS welcome the suggestion to introduce a fee for Claimants to lodge a Tribunal claim and believe that this may deter some of the less scrupulous Claimants from pursuing misconceived or purely vexatious cases. The increase in the unfair dismissal qualifying period from 1 to 2 years is also likely to be welcomed, as it will give greater flexibility for the employer to decide on the suitability and conduct of employees, before they gain many statutory protections. There are however many claims employees can still bring under the qualifying period for unfair dismissal and that will remain unchanged. Compulsory mediation for Tribunal claims is in our view more questionable and could potentially simply extend the dispute process and tie up the resources of employers, ACAS and representatives in a different pre-Tribunal procedure. We reserve judgment at this stage. |