This spring we’re welcoming guest bloggers to the LCP blog and in today’s post Nicole Humphreys from Sussex based firm Acumen Business Law discusses the ins and outs of the upcoming changes to employment tribunals and unfair dismissal claims. Also see our past blog for a list of dates of all 2012 employment law changes.

Nicole is an Employment Solicitor specialising in all areas of employment law and working with both employers and employees. Her approach is tactical and methodical providing practical solutions and best advice within the boundaries of employment law legislation.

There are always changes in the world of employment law and 2012 is no exception! The usual increases (or the occasional decrease) in the statutory limits. The National Minimum Wage up to £6.08 in 2011, the cap for unfair dismissal rises from £68,400 to £72,300 in February 2012.

But there’s a bigger shakeup going on in addition to the usual inflation changes. The Coalition Government’s commitment to review employment law has resulted in a consultation and the results are now in. So, what’s new?

Mediation as a form of early dispute resolution is certainly not a new topic but in an attempt to reduce the number of employment claims the government are to give it a new lease of life with a proposed pilot scheme in the retail sector to test its merits as a pre-curser to litigation. They will also provide funding for mediation training (an average cost of mediation stands at £800 – £1000 per day) to enable mediators to offer lower cost services to organisations within their areas to deal with the cost barriers.

In addition, it is proposed that early conciliation through ACAS will become mandatory prior to submitting a claim (currently there is only a duty on ACAS to deal with claims after they are lodged). A simplified form will be used to give the conciliators enough information to get started and claimant’s will then be given one month from the date of conciliation to bring a claim in a tribunal, if they do not manage to reconcile their case.

Probably the most talked about change is the qualification period for Unfair Dismissal claims which is set to rise from 1 year to 2 years. This will, however, only apply to those employed after April 2012 (and so won’t kick in until April 2014). Unsurprisingly, the majority of businesses who responded to the consultation welcomed the proposed change, agreeing that it would boost employers’ confidence in staff recruitment.

However, the majority view amongst the other respondents was negative, suggesting that it would reduce employee rights and would not achieve its aims. Despite these results the government have, in their wisdom, decided to implement it anyway as they say it will improve business confidence, bolster the economy and reduce tribunal claims. They have dismissed arguments that an increase in the qualification criteria would result in claimants turning to other jurisdictions in order to bring a claim (ie., discrimination).

Finally, the controversial proposal to impose a financial penalty on employers who breach employment rights. This was understandably rejected by the majority of businesses who responded saying that the discretion for uplift for breaches of the Acas code adequately covers any failing on employers’ breaches. Those in support of the change were not in favour of the proposed beneficiaries – the government and argued that it should be the worker. In light of the objections the government revised its original plan and any penalties will be discretionary and calculated as half the amount of any award given to a maximum of £5000. A 50% discount will be available if you pay within 21 days!

The government have requested a ‘Fundamental Review’ of the tribunal processes to consider a number of areas including; providing a claimant’s ‘statement of loss’ when submitting a claim to quantify what they think they have ‘lost’ and what level of compensation they are claiming, increasing cost awards in tribunals to £20,000 and to expand the use of strike out powers.

Image credit: photostock

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