Posted: Tuesday 11 January 2011
Proposal To Charge Employees Who Raise Employment Claims
In my blog yesterday - Proposals To Make It Easier To Sack Employees – I mentioned that one aspect that the Government may look at is the possibility of charging a fee to anyone who wishes to raise Tribunal proceedings.
Business groups have been vocal in the last few days on this topic with the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) issuing a press release and figures which reflect the cost to businesses of Employment Tribunal claims. The BCC calls for the Government to introduce an application fee for Claimants and a review of the current employment tribunal system.
The research carried out by the BCC indicates that last year (2009/2010) saw the highest ever number of Tribunal claims raised. (This is true, but it is worth noting that part of the reason for this was a high percentage of Working Time Regulation claims which required to be re-submitted every 3 months (to avoid a time bar issue) and not as a result of a large increase in the number of individuals raising claims as such.)
The BCC’s report states that the current system should be reviewed and sets out 8 proposals for review – one of which is a charge payable by the Claimant when lodging the application. However, business groups cannot agree on the amount of fee to be charged with the BCC suggesting a fee of around £30.
The possibility of a fee has been mooted for some time now but never progressed. In the past it has been suggested that to introduce a fee would somehow prohibit an individual’s access to justice under the European Convention of Human Rights. However, it is difficult to see how this could be the case given that a fee is charged if someone is raising civil court proceedings. Whether the introduction of a fee (particularly a fairly nominal fee) would deter individuals from raising a claim is perhaps also open to question.
Watch this space…
