Last week the Government finally produced its response to the consultation on fees in the Employment Tribunal. The full response, all 86 pages of it is available via the press release. In a controversial move, fees for commencing a claim and then taking it all the way to a final hearing will be introduced from the summer of 2013.
The rationale is to make Tribunal users contribute to the cost of the system they use,
In an excellent blog post yesterday, Anya Palmer comprehensively demolished the story run in the Daily Telegraph on the 22nd June that said ETs were swamped with a backlog of over 500,000 cases, which came as a bit of a surprise to anyone who follows UK employment law.
The Telegraph seemed to confuse “single” cases with “multiples”, which gives the impression that there were 530,000 individual people waiting to have their cases heard.For reasons which Anya describes this figure is completely misleading as to the numbers of Claimants in the ET system. The impression is given by the Telegraph that there is a tsunami of employee litigants all waiting impatiently for their claims to be heard, when the reality is very different.
What happens if you get sick while on annual leave?
This has been a thorny issue for some time. If you’re away from the workplace having a well earned rest whilst enjoying our glorious summer weather (ahem) and you get struck down by illness, can you (effectively) take your holiday again when better?
The answer is yes, after a recent preliminary ruling in the case of ANGED v FASGA by the European Court of Justice, concerning Article 7 (1) of Directive 2003/88/EC. Prior to this case it was already the law that you could take retake holiday if struck down by illness or an accident before going on leave. This case merely confirms that it does not matter when the employee becomes afflicted;
In my last blog on ERR, I referred to the plan to rename compromise agreements as settlement agreements as being purely cosmetic. Vince Cable’s plans announced this week when ERR had its Second Reading in Parliament suggest there might actually be more substance to it.
This excerpt from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) press release announced its plans;
Following on from my last post on Beecroft, which was intended to be short but sort of kept on expanding, here is Part 2, covering the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, published by the Government a couple of weeks ago, which does propose definite reforms, unlike the Beecroft report.
The main proposals (*) are;
1. Mandatory early conciliation with ACAS and an extension of limitation periods to take account of pre-issue conciliation.
2. A cap on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal between one and three year’s median earnings (£26,000 – 78,000) or, one year’s earnings.
UK Employment law has been dominated by the issue of reform again, with the Beecroft report and then the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill (ERR) being published shortly afterwards. Vince Cable then shuffled back centre stage describing the Beecroft report as “bonkers”. In reply, Mr Beecroft, no doubt frothing at the mouth in frenzy, called Saint Vince a socialist. Aargh no! Not the “S” Word! Wash your mouth out Beecroft, let’s have none of that foul language here please.
Guest Post
Until recently, the focus has tended to be on the value that extroverted personalities bring to certain job roles – sales, marketing, start-ups and business development, for example. But research increasingly shows that it’s the introverts who can add real value to a multitude of professions, thanks to their introspection, creativity and excellent writing skills. Introverts also tend to work very well on their own, making them ideal for roles of responsibility. Equally, they prefer not to take risks at work, which means they are highly suited to the new post-credit-crunch business ethos in regulated professions and roles where careful decision making and analysis of risk is key to success.
Guest Post
The new NHS bill is all over the news, with constant references to this major reorganisation of an iconic service and the need to cut costs. But what exactly does this mean? Surely no one is under the illusion that the NHS is anything other than expensive to run and that, as a huge institution, it has room for cost-cutting measures?
Reducing costs, however, is more than just cutting back on office costs and making an adjustment here and there in order to help the budget out. This is a hot topic that has resulted in an 18-month battle to pass a bill intended to overhaul the entire National Health Service.
On the subject of compromise, there must be an even more uneasy atmosphere around the Cabinet table following the front-page report in the FT today saying that Vince Cable cannot support the government’s reforms of employment law.
Saint Vince is reported as saying he will resist “bonkers” proposals over “no-fault dismissals”. Mind you, he was ready to go to war with News International over their proposed purchase of BSkyB until he shot himself in the foot. Cable is also reported as having had conversations with Ed Miliband; so has Nick Clegg. About what? We’re not told apart from a vague reference to “important areas of public policy”. What’s happened to collective Cabinet responsibility?
Guest Blog Post
Few organisations have failed to be affected by the recession, which continues to grip firms across the UK. Unfortunately, the downturn is also causing financial problems for charitable organisations, which usually tend to be unaffected by economic peaks and troughs.
As charities throughout Britain struggle to balance the books, increased red tape and fraudulent activities are causing additional headaches. Any person who is responsible for a charity should ask whether sufficient measures have been implemented to counteract fraud at a time when goodwill is needed more than ever.
Fraud