Changing times in employment law

Following the introduction of tribunal fees last July, the number of employment tribunal claims has fallen dramatically across the North West in line with the 79 per cent fall in employment tribunal claims nationally.

Claimants now have to pay £160 to launch a basic 'money' claim in the employment tribunal and £230 to progress the claim to a hearing; the issue fee for a discrimination or unfair dismissal claim is £250 with a further £950 to pay if the case goes to hearing.

Little wonder then that the number of claims has fallen.

Issuing claims

Anecdotally, it seems that union-backed employees are now choosing to issue claims for unpaid wages, holiday pay or other payments due to them in the County Court where issue fees can be lower and, if an employee is successful, the employer could end up with a County Court judgment against them, something which most employers are keen to avoid. The County Court does not have jurisdiction to hear unfair dismissal or discrimination claims, however, as far as money claims are concerned, it may be that the introduction of fees in the tribunal will simply have the effect of shifting the problem out of the tribunal and into the County Court.

All of this has had an adverse effect on employment law practices as, put quite simply, the fall in employment tribunal claims has led to a substantial fall in incoming work. There are, of course, bigger issues arising from the introduction of tribunal fees, in particular questions about access to justice, however the impact on employment lawyers feeds into that debate. If employment law practices fail, then this has a further impact on access to justice, as it will become more difficult for potential claimants to get access to good, sensible legal advice. That is not good for employees or employers.

With the drop in tribunal claims, we are focusing on prevention and best practice as a way to fill the potential gaps in the business. Employers still face employment tribunal claims, notwithstanding the introduction of tribunal fees, and still have to deal with difficult and time-consuming employment issues.

Best practice

Training is key for employers to minimise liability and make best use of their resources when it comes to HR, so this is an area we are developing and which we expect to be one of our primary service lines in the future. We are also working on the development of audits and health checks for contractual documentation, procedures and policies, data protection issues, and equality and diversity issues, which again focuses on prevention and best practice for clients.

I have every confidence that employment law practices and employment barristers will adapt to meet the challenges of these changes. Employment has always been an area of law where the goalposts are constantly shifting as the political winds change, so employment lawyers are used to having to be flexible in their approach and their business planning.

The real issue when it comes to the sustainability of the current regime is not about us, it is about our clients and what is best for them. There has to be a balance between protecting employers from nuisance claims and ensuring access to justice, and the interests of employment lawyers have to be secondary to that debate.

Fiona Hamor is a partner at Pannone Corporate www.pannonecorporate.com