The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has confirmed today that the qualification period for the right to claim unfair dismissal will be extended from one to two years from 1 April
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has confirmed today that the qualification period for the right to claim unfair dismissal will be extended from one to two years from 1 April 2012.
The announcement follows some confusion last week. BIS originally published a consultation paper earlier this year which covered this issue (amongst others) but the response to the consultation has not yet been published. When BIS published its 'One-In, One-Out, Second Statement of New Regulation' last week, it appeared to indicate that a decision had already been reached on whether to increase the qualifying period for the right to claim unfair dismissal. BIS subsequently reissued the publication last week, indicating that this remained a "proposal".
The reissued publication also stated that the Government will be introducing fees for lodging employment tribunal claims. Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed this in his speech to the Conservative party conference today, indicating that claimants will only get back the fee if they win. According to a BBC report today, the fees will come into force from April 2013 and the amount that will be charged and how it should be paid will be subject to consultation starting by the end of November. Some newspapers have given an indication of the fees. For example, the Guardian reports that anyone applying to make a claim at an employment tribunal will have to pay a fee of between £100 and £150, a full-scale hearing will cost £1,000, and any claim for more than £30,000 in compensation will cost more.
Both these announcements are significant changes to employment law. However, the detail regarding the introduction of fees has yet to be confirmed, so watch this space. This seems more to do with conference week posturing by a Chancellor under pressure than well thought out policy development. Making a class of people with less than two years' continuous employment vulnerable to arbitrary dismissal is one way of creating a "flexible workforce". However, those deprived of the right to claim unfair dismissal will be forced to consider bringing far more complicated and costly claims for discrimination. Many of them will be the young, women returning to work following time off to have children and ethnic minority and disabled employees struggling to get a foothold in the workforce. It will also be interesting to see whether the Tribunal fee system, which has been considered and rejected many times before, stands up to scrutiny once an inevitable list of exemptions has been worked through and once the cost of administering the collection of payments has been added in to the benefit/burden equation. It will no doubt be said that those who have been wronged will have nothing to fear from a fee system as the fees will be returned if they win their cases. That rather ignores the relative financial risk that an employee faces in litigation and the complexities of employment related disputes.
The announcement follows some confusion last week. BIS originally published a consultation paper earlier this year which covered this issue (amongst others) but the response to the consultation has not yet been published. When BIS published its 'One-In, One-Out, Second Statement of New Regulation' last week, it appeared to indicate that a decision had already been reached on whether to increase the qualifying period for the right to claim unfair dismissal. BIS subsequently reissued the publication last week, indicating that this remained a "proposal".
The reissued publication also stated that the Government will be introducing fees for lodging employment tribunal claims. Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed this in his speech to the Conservative party conference today, indicating that claimants will only get back the fee if they win. According to a BBC report today, the fees will come into force from April 2013 and the amount that will be charged and how it should be paid will be subject to consultation starting by the end of November. Some newspapers have given an indication of the fees. For example, the Guardian reports that anyone applying to make a claim at an employment tribunal will have to pay a fee of between £100 and £150, a full-scale hearing will cost £1,000, and any claim for more than £30,000 in compensation will cost more.
Both these announcements are significant changes to employment law. However, the detail regarding the introduction of fees has yet to be confirmed, so watch this space. This seems more to do with conference week posturing by a Chancellor under pressure than well thought out policy development. Making a class of people with less than two years' continuous employment vulnerable to arbitrary dismissal is one way of creating a "flexible workforce". However, those deprived of the right to claim unfair dismissal will be forced to consider bringing far more complicated and costly claims for discrimination. Many of them will be the young, women returning to work following time off to have children and ethnic minority and disabled employees struggling to get a foothold in the workforce. It will also be interesting to see whether the Tribunal fee system, which has been considered and rejected many times before, stands up to scrutiny once an inevitable list of exemptions has been worked through and once the cost of administering the collection of payments has been added in to the benefit/burden equation. It will no doubt be said that those who have been wronged will have nothing to fear from a fee system as the fees will be returned if they win their cases. That rather ignores the relative financial risk that an employee faces in litigation and the complexities of employment related disputes.