There are plenty of changes happening in the Employment law field over the next few months. Much of it is with a view to reducing the number of Tribunal claims as well as encouraging parties to settle.The first batch of changes is with effect from 25 June 2013. There are further changes coming into force from 29 July 2013 (the introduction of fees) and again in 2014 (early ACAS conciliation).
From 25 June 2013, some of the changes are as follows:
Protected Disclosures (aka whistleblowing).From now on, employees will only be protected if they believed that the disclosure was made in the public interest. Tribunals will have the power to reduce compensation if the disclosure was not made in good faith.
Deposit Orders. Deposit Orders are made if the Tribunal considers that a claim, or part of a claim, has limited prospects of success. If a Deposit Order is made then for the part of the claim subject to the Order (now up to £1000), the Claimant has to pay the amount that the Tribunal directs for that part of the claim to continue.
Deposit Orders can now be made for each part of a claim that the Tribunal considers is weak. For example, one single claim could include several claims e.g. for unfair dismissal, breach of contract, discrimination. This will increase the deterrent for Claimants for bringing weak claims in the future as well as continuing with weak claims.
Deposit Orders act as a warning to the Claimant from the Tribunal and, if the Claimant decides to continue with that part of the claim after having paid the Deposit, if that part of their claim fails at the main Hearing the Claimant is more likely to be liable for the Respondent's costs.
Costs Orders. There is now much greater scope for a Tribunal to award costs, either against a Claimant who has brought a claim that is unjustified, or a Respondent who is defending a claim when there is no real defence.
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Disclaimer
This blog post is intended for information only. It is not intended to amount to legal advice or be relied on in legal proceedings and readers are advised to take specialist legal advice at all times.
