Employment Update

There has rarely been a time when so many Employment Law issues were under review. Last year saw significant changes to rights like unfair dismissal, with 2 years service now required to claim. Changes were also made to the Tribunal system, with Judges sitting alone for many dismissal claims.

2013 promises a surge of Employment changes, and that is before the impact of continuing Case Law! Just some of the main proposals are given below. For a full update, please refer to our latest Newsletter on the menu list.

• Charges for Tribunal claimants for the very first time - £250 for unfair dismissal, plus a hearing fee of another £950 - £1200 in total! Expected Summer 2013
• Consultation with Employees on large scale redundancies down from 90 days to 45 days. Effective April 2013
• A marked change in the calculation of compensation for unfair dismissal, resulting in lower compensation payments. Summer 2013
• The introduction of "Protected Conversations" between Employer and Employee with a view to ending the relationship, with lower risk of litigation. Summer 2013
• A new, independent, (and free!) health assessment service to assist Employers manage longer term absentees.
• All Tribunal claimants to go via ACAS for mediation prior to making a formal Tribunal complaint. Expected 2014

Compensation at Record levels .

 Total compensation awarded by Employment Tribunals reached record levels in 2012; due, it must be said, to very large settlements in a small number of Discrimination cases. The total compensation awarded in discrimination cases reached nearly £9 million. In fact 2 NHS cases paid out nearly £5.5 m.

 Overall, claims to Employment Tribunals saw a fall of around 15% in the year ended April 2012; 321,800 complaints were registered by the Tribunal Service of which over 30% were for Unfair Dismissal.

 The Government has announced wide ranging proposals aimed at reducing the amount of litigation surrounding employment disputes. One of the more controversial is to introduce fees for registering an Employment Tribunal claim.

To keep abreast of these changes, and the very latest Case Law, subscribe to our Newsletter.

To help keep your Managers up to speed, contact us for some cost effective, practical, in-company training. Call 01789 470700 for a quote.

Two New Workshops added

Two new workshops have been added to our portfolio of workshops. Firstly, following a number of requests, we have created a very practical event covering redundancies. This is a half day covering the legal background, with an optional half day to focus on the skills required in handling this sensitive situation.

The second new event provides everything you need to know about Contracts of Employment - what to include, how to change things etc. All in a single day! For further details go to the "Training" link and select the workshop title.

These outlines are for guidance only - we design each event to suit your requirements.