Proposed Changes to Employment Law Tribunal System

The much anticipated consultation on reforming access to the employment tribunal system, 'Resolving workplace disputes', has now been published. The consultation period is open until 20 April 2011. The key proposals are to increase the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from one year to two years and to introduce fees for lodging Tribunal claims. The Government states that its proposed changes to employment law are intended to 'ensure maximum flexibility while protecting fairness and providing the competitive environment required for enterprise and growth'. It seeks to encourage disputes to be resolved early before they reach the tribunal system. If a dispute does result in a tribunal claim, the Government wants to see cases moving more quickly to conclusion to keep costs down for both the parties and the taxpayer.

Increasing Qualifying Period

The most controversial of the proposals is the increased qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from one to two years. The Government believes such a move will enable businesses to 'feel more confident about hiring people' and create 'more time for the relationship to get established and work well', but not become 'a charter for businesses to sack people unfairly'. The Government estimates that the increase will result in between 3,700-4,700 fewer unfair dismissal claims per year. This would not affect employees' so-called 'Day One' rights.

Other proposals

Requiring 'service users' (i.e. the parties) to contribute towards the cost of running employment tribunals, and the Employment Appeal Tribunal, by paying fees; Requiring all claims to be submitted, within the relevant time limits, to ACAS' pre-claim conciliation (PCC) service before they can be lodged with a tribunal. This is to allow ACAS a period of up to one calendar month to attempt to conciliate the dispute; Including information in the ET1 to ensure that claimants are able to judge the value of pursuing a claim and the likelihood of a successful outcome. This is with a view to encouraging early conciliation. Similar information is also to be made available to employers to enable them to make an informed decision about defending the claim; ncluding a Statement or Schedule of Loss with the ET1, to help inform the employer whether to resist the claim, or to seek conciliation or settlement; Introducing a rule whereby either party can make a formal settlement offer, backed by a scheme of penalties and rewards, as part of formal...