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Workplace disputes are stressful and time consuming for employers and employees and extremely costly and damaging for the UK economy.
In 2008, the annual cost of dealing with conflict in the workplace was estimated to be £24 billion.
In addition, there has been a dramatic increase Employment Tribunals claims and between 2008-09 and 2009-10 the number of claims rose by 56% i.e. from 151,00 to 236,100.
The Government published its consultation on employment tribunal reform on 27 January 2011 and the consultation was conducted by the Department for Business, Skills & Innovation (BIS) and the Ministry of Justice's Tribunals Service.
The aim of the consultation is to encourage parties to resolve disputes earlier whilst at the same time preserving both sides right to access justice, and deliver savings and reduce time spent on tribunal claims.
To quote
"The Government is seeking views on measures to:
The consultation was considered a significant step to progress the Government's review of employment law and will build on the earlier changes to the dispute resolution service in 2008 with the repeal of the stature 3-step procedure for dealing with discipline and grievances and the introduction of the new ACAS pre claims conciliation scheme.
The consultation aims to encourage early dispute resolution including a greater use of mediation and other of alternative dispute resolution.
It is proposed that all claims are required to be submitted for early conciliation to ACAS (the Advisory, conciliation and Arbitration service) rather that to the tribunal service. ACAS would have a period of up to one month to offer pre-claim conciliation.
Managing the expectation of claimants in terms of what level of award might be received, when the tribunal may take place and how long a case may last is considered very important in the consultation. Many claimants commence the process with unrealistic expectations of what they may receive.
It is proposed that weaker claims should be tacked in a number of ways including making the power to strike out more flexible and allowing a judge to issue a deposit order at any stage in the proceedings. The deposit and cost limits for weak & vexatious claims should be increased.
It is proposed that witness statements can be taken "as read" in all hearing and payment of expenses should be withdrawn to encourage earlier settlement and possibly fewer witnesses to attend hearings which could result in shorter hearings.
The jurisdiction where judges can sit alone should be extended and legal officers introduced to deal with certain case management functions.
It is proposed to introduce a fee for lodging a tribunal claims and to extend the qualifying period for employees to be able to bring a claim for unfair dismissal, from one to two years.
However this may result in an increase in discrimination claims where no qualifying period of service is required.
In addition to the other measures proposed, the BIS has a vision for improving leadership and management skills whereby conflict is managed more effectively and managers are trained to handle difficult or sensitive conversations in the workplace with more confidence and skill .
The consutation period ended on 20 April 2011 and it is expected that the Government will release the result of the consultation shortly.
Marjorie Bremner, HR Principal at Berg Kaprow Lewis LLP, UK200 Group member firm.
Tel: 020 8922 9222
Email: marjorie.bremner@bkl.co.uk
