Posted: Monday 11 July 2011
£50,000 Cap On Tribunal Awards? Part 2
I blogged recently on the Private Members’ Bill which sought to cap unfair dismissal claims and discrimination claims at £50,000 (£50,000 Cap On Employment Tribunal Awards?). At the time I pointed out that it was unlikely that this would get onto the statute books due to the procedural barriers that face Private Members’ Bills.
The Bill was considered in the House of Commons on 17 June and during the debate it was confirmed by Damian Green the Immigration Minister that the Government has recently consulted over unfair dismissal compensation (see my blog - Government Announce Far-Reaching Employment Law Reforms) and that it will launch a public consultation on discrimination awards later this year (see our Employment E-bulletin June 2011). Interestingly, Damian Green was asked a question regarding the ability to legislate in this area in light of European Court of Justice case law on discrimination awards.
As I indicated previously, a major difficulty for the Government is the fact that discrimination legislation has its origins in European legislation and therefore there are limitations as to what the Government can actually do without being in conflict with EU law.
The Government have not made their view on this point known yet and the debate on the Bill has been adjourned until 9 September 2011.
I will keep you updated on this issue as clearly the issue of financial exposure to Tribunal claims is a very significant one for many employers.
