Saturday 24 May 2014

Unison fights on with permission to challenge fees



Employment lawyers have welcomed a High Court decision to support recently-introduced employment tribunal and employment appeal tribunal fees.
Trade union Unison challenged the Government’s decision to introduce the fees in court, arguing they would bar workers treated unfairly by employers from accessing justice.
Unison argued that since the fees were introduced, the number of employment cases had fallen sharply. It presented research suggesting Equality Act discrimination claims had fallen by 88% between September 2012 and September 2013. 
In the same period, Unision suggested sex discrimination claims had fallen by 86% and unfair dismissal claims by 81%.
Despite these findings, the High Court ruled it was too soon to judge if the fees would have a negative impact following their introduction in July 2013. 





Wednesday 21 May 2014

A great basic guide to the new compensation rules

See Morton-Fraser's site for a helpful chart setting out the new employment tribunal compensation rules here

www.charlesprice.net


Monday 19 May 2014

High Court Scuppers attack on 1 yr salary compensation cap but there may be round 2

At a permission hearing The High Court has pulled the rug from under an ingenious bid to judicially review the cap which means that the maximum compensatory award a tribunal can make is a year's gross salary (which, today itself, is capped at £76,574).

Alex Monaco said the cap on compensation will disproportionately affect older people, as they are most likely to receive more than a year’s salary in compensation due to difficulty in finding another job.

 Monaco said in the Gazette: ‘We are looking at options and looking at appealing it.’ He said the firm is seeking pro bono help from lawyers to fight the ruling.

www.charlesprice.net