Big changes in employment law in next 2 years
Employment law affects every business, large or small, so when there are significant changes, it is important employers and employees are aware of them.
Most employers will tell you in strong terms that they consider employment law to be inherently biased in favour of the employee, and there are good reasons for this perception. However, those reasons are largely linked with factors outside of the legal tests for unfair dismissal and discrimination, which are in reality quite favourable for employers (subject in the case of unfair dismissal to compliance with procedure as well as substance).
The reason so many Tribunal claims are made 9rising year on year for many years) is down to the 2 factors that are being changed :-
- You only need to be employed for a continuous period of 1 year before making an unfair dismissal claim
- There are no court fees payable to start an employment tribunal claim
This second factor is particularly significant. When combined with the fact that win, lose or draw, the usual rule (subject to exceptions where the claimant can be shown to have acted wholly unreasonably or vexatiously) is that neither party recovers legal costs, the employee has little to lose by starting a tribunal claim and the employer will often settle the claim rather than waste costs on legal fees. This is why around 80% of cases do not go to a final hearing.
The new rules will be that the qualifying period will be 2 years from sometime in 2012 and court fees will be payable from sometime in 2013. This will almost certainly result in less claims being lodged.
Do you have an opinion on these changes ? Please let us know.