The Employment Law Proposals - and my first thoughts

Posted by: Simon / 23.11.2011

After weeks of leaks, announcements and speculation, the Government has finally announced today its proposed changes to employment law. The main proposals (which I have taken from the summary produced by top employment barrister Daniel Barnett) are below, together with my initial comments (in italics):-

• unfair dismissal qualifying period to increase to two years Sounds "employer friendly" but will only knock out a small number of claims and likely to lead to more discrimination related claims (where no service is required)

• compulsory lodging of all claims through Acas, for an attempt at mediation, before they can be lodged with the tribunal Potentially a good idea
• consultation on the introduction of protected conversations, with the proviso that they will not extend to protect discriminatory acts See my blog here on why I think this may be very useful
• a call for evidence, with a view to consultation, on reducing minimum period for redundancy consultation to 60, 45 or 30 days Unlikely to affect small organisations but there are pros and cons on this for both employers and employees.

• options for a 'rapid resolution scheme', to enable simple claims to be settled within three months need to see the detail but can't see how anyone would argue against this in principle
• amendment to s147 of Equality Act 2010, to clarify compromise agreements can be used to settle discrimination claims Great - but putting right a drafting cock-up is hardly a major policy announcement
• complaints about breach of employment contract (Parkin v Sodexho) to be taken out of whistleblowing law This is a rare technicality - but cost one of my clients a lot of money so I have to say this is the one of the things I would have changed
• financial penalties to be introduced on employers who breach employment rights, payable to the Exchequer, subject to a discretion exercisable by Employment Judges Interesting - and need to see the detail - but would seem fair if claimants are also now required to pay.
• a fundamental review of employment tribunal rules of procedure, to include changes to costs and deposit orders Probably a good thing but unlikely to be of interest to most employers or employees
• Employment Judges to sit alone in unfair dismissal cases Not a good thing in my view, the real-life work experience of lay members should be an important factor in tribunal judgements
• CRB checks to be portable, so no need for a fresh application when moving jobs Would seem a good idea and take a lot of admin away from charities and voluntary organisations
• Maternity and paternity leave to be 'modernised', with emphasis on greater involvement for fathers. Need to see the detail of what this means

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