Employment Law Watch : Employment & Labor Lawyer & Attorney : Reed Smith Law Firm

The Government has today announced what it describes as “the most radical reform to the employment law system for decades”. In a speech to EEF, the UK manufacturers’ organisation, Vince Cable outlined the results of the Government’s recent consultation on Resolving Workplace Disputes and the recent Red Tape Challenge Review of employment law. 

The proposals announced by Vince Cable include the following:

• Merge, scrap or simplify 70 of the 159 employment regulations examined in the Red Tape Challenge (this includes consolidation of 17 national minimum wage regulations)
• Publish calls for evidence on proposals to simplify TUPE and to reduce the minimum consultation period for proposed collective redundancies involving 100 or more employees, from 90 days to 60, 45 or 30 days (see links below to these consultation papers which were issued today and which will close on 31 January 2012)
• Publish a call for evidence on simplifying dismissal processes, seeking views on two proposals: whether to introduce compensated no fault dismissals for micro firms with fewer than 10 employees; and how to simplify the existing dismissal process, potentially changing the Acas Code, or to provide supplementary guidance for small businesses.
• Remove protection for any whistleblower making a disclosure about the worker’s own contract (to counter the EAT’s decision in Parkins v Sodexho Ltd [2002] IRLR 109
• Create a universally portable CRB check that can be viewed by employers instantly online from early 2013
• Consult on the introduction of fees for bringing a claim in the Employment Tribunal, seeking views on two options: a system involving an initial fee to lodge a claim and a second fee to take that claim to hearing; or a system involving a £30,000 threshold whereby anyone seeking an award above that figure will pay more to bring a claim
• Consult on streamlining the current regulatory regime for the recruitment sector.

In addition, as part of the Government’s response to its consultation to the Resolving Workplace Disputes, the Government has said that it is committed to:

• Increasing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from one to two years from April 2012
• Requiring all Employment Tribunal claims to be lodged with Acas and to be offered mediation before going to Tribunal
• Modifying the formulae for up-rating Tribunal awards and redundancy payments to save business an estimated £5.4 million (net) a year
• Giving Employment Judges discretion to levy a financial penalty, payable to the Exchequer, against employers for breach of employment rights
• Consulting on whether employers should be allowed to have “protected conversations” with staff without the existence of a formal dispute and without such conversations capable of being used in evidence in a future Tribunal claim
• Consulting on the simplification of compromise agreements, such as doing away with long lists of causes of action. Other proposals include introducing a standard text, amending s.146 Equality Act to provide reassurance that compromise agreements can safely be used to compromise discrimination claims, and renaming them “settlement agreements”
• Consulting on developing a “rapid resolution” scheme which will offer a quicker and cheaper alternative to determination of straightforward, low value claims at an Employment Tribunal
• Carrying out a review of Employment Tribunal rules, to be led by Mr Justice Underhill, who steps down at the end of this year from his Presidency of the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

Much of the detail of these proposals is yet to be revealed and we now have to wait for a number of consultations to be completed before we know more. It looks like 2012 will be an important year for employment law reform so watch this space!

Please click on the following links for more information:

Government Press Release:

http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?ReleaseID=422195&NewsAreaID=2&HUserID=895,779,885,848,782,879,710,705,765,674,677,767,684,762,718,674,708,683,706,718,674&ClientID=-1

Call for evidence on TUPE regulations (closing 31 January 2012)

http://www.bis.gov.uk/Consultations/call-for-evidence-effectiveness-of-current-tupe-regulations?cat=open

Call for evidence on collective redundancies (closing 31 January 2012)

http://www.bis.gov.uk/Consultations/call-for-evidence-collective-redundancy?cat=open

Government Response to Resolving Workplace Disputes

 http://www.bis.gov.uk/Consultations/resolving-workplace-disputes?cat=closedwithresponse 

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A recent decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Eagles v Rugged Systems has confirmed the position as to the circumstances in which an Employment Tribunal should exercise its discretion to extend the ordinary three-month time limit for presenting a claim in the Employment Tribunal for an extra three months under the statutory dispute resolution regulations (repealed on 6^th April 2009). The decision will be of interest to employers dealing with recent claims for unfair dismissal or who are currently negotiating compromise agreements or dealing with ongoing dismissal procedures in cases where, on a time limit transitional basis, the statutory dispute resolution procedures still apply.

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The Regulations bringing parts of the Employment Act 2008 into force on 6^th April 2009 also introduce transitional arrangements for the removal of the statutory dispute resolution procedures. These regulations provide for one set of arrangements for dismissal and disciplinary actions, and another for grievances. These changes will be important for all HR managers and line managers. In particular, the transitional arrangements relating to grievances may catch many employers out in the year ahead.

The Employment Act 2008 (Commencement No. 1, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2008

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Regulations to amend the 2004 Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure have been laid before Parliament and will come into effect on 6^th April 2009. These changes will be relevant to all practitioners and HR managers involved in Tribunal proceedings – take note in particular of the changes regarding making a request to extend time for filing a Response.   

The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2008

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Some important legislative changes are planned for 2009, including the abolition of the statutory dispute resolution procedures and the extension of the right to request flexible working for parents with children under 16. Read on for a summary of these and other expected developments which may affect your business in the year ahead.

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The Secretary of State has approved the new draft ACAS Code of Practice on discipline and grievances following public consultation. The new draft Code has been revised to take into account the changes proposed to be made to workplace dispute resolution procedures by the Employment Act 2008, which received Royal Assent on 13^th November.

In the consultation, which ended in July this year, the draft Code was criticised for being too vague, which it was suggested, could have led to increased litigation. The revised Code has addressed some of these concerns by adding more detail, but this may have the effect of restricting flexibility and leave employers open to challenge when mistakes or omissions are made.   Employers should now think about what changes are needed to disciplinary and dismissal, capability, performance and grievance policies in time for 6 April 2009 when the Code is likely to come into force.

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The Scottish Court of Session in the case of Cannop & Others –v- The Highland Council has confirmed that where the employee’s Employment Tribunal claim follows on from a grievance previously communicated, there does need to be a necessary relationship between the grievance and the complaint pleaded in the ET1 Tribunal claim form, so that the grievance underlying the ET1 is essentially the same as the grievance earlier communicated. In respect equal pay claims, the Court declined to comment on the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s decision that the relevant grievance must refer to the comparators which are subsequently cited in the ET1.

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On 2 May 2008, ACAS published a new draft Code of practice on discipline and grievances for public consultation. The Code has been revised to take into account the changes proposed to be made to workplace dispute resolution by the Employment Bill, currently before Parliament, and in particular the forthcoming abolition of the statutory dispute resolution procedures.

Consultation Paper and draft Code of Practice

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In Towergate London Market Ltd v Harris the Court of Appeal held that a claimant was entitled to a three-month time extension to bring her unfair dismissal claim, since she had reasonable grounds to believe that a dismissal procedure was ongoing upon the expiry of the original time limit. The Court reached this conclusion despite the fact that the claimant had not appealed internally against her dismissal under any formal process, but rather had raised a post-employment 'grievance' with her employer.

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