The world of Employment law was shook once again yesterday when the news broke that Employment Tribunal fees are no longer lawful.
But what does that mean? Previously, in order to bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal you had to pay fees that could tot up to as much as £1200- so you really did have to put your money where your mouth was when bringing a claim.
Those opposed to the fees said that it was preventing access to justice and that people were unable to bring claims because they could not afford to do so. Whilst there is no question that access to justice is important, the introduction of the fees did cause a decline in nuisance claims. These claims were lodged on weak arguments, simply to seek a settlement payment from an employer, who who paid out to avoid an Employment Tribunal hearing.
The decrease in claims may have lead employers into a false sense of security, thinking that the likelihood of a claim being brought against them was lower. But this is most definitely no longer the case, the stakes have gone up.
It is now more important than ever to make sure your HR and Employment law practices are correct in case an employee does bring a claim against you, you know you have got it right.
HR should definitely be back on the top of your agenda, as the chances of making an expensive mistake are set to increase.
Why not arrange for us to do a HR Audit in your business to see how healthy your HR is. For a one off fixed fee, we can tell you what your doing right, but more importantly what you are doing wrong and how to fix it.
