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Employment tribunal statistics 2011/12: median unfair dismissal award £4,560
The Ministry of Justice has published its report on employment tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) statistics for the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012, including details of compensation awards for successful unfair dismissal and discrimination claims.

Government announces further proposals to "streamline employment law"
The Government has announced two consultations as part of its ongoing review of employment law, seeking views on: the introduction of a "settlement agreement" scheme; a reduction of the level of the compensatory award for unfair dismissal; and proposals to simplify tribunal procedures following Mr Justice Underhill's review of the rules of procedure.

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Perspective

Unfair dismissal plans likely to make paying off senior managers more affordable
Consultant editor Darren Newman explains why paying off underperforming senior managers could become an attractive option under the Government's plans to reduce the maximum unfair dismissal compensatory award.

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Good practice

Good practice guide on bribery
The latest addition to the XpertHR good practice manual provides guidance on the steps that HR can take to help prevent bribery and demonstrate that the organisation put in place adequate procedures should it be investigated for the corporate offence of failure to prevent bribery.

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Casenotes

Age discrimination: Woodcock v Cumbria Primary Care Trust
The Court of Appeal holds that the employer was justified in issuing a redundancy dismissal notice to an employee prior to formal consultation so as to avoid his remaining in its employment until his 50th birthday.

Age discrimination: HM Land Registry v Benson and others
The EAT holds that the "cheapness criterion" applied by the employer during an early retirement selection process was justified, although indirectly discriminatory on the ground of age.

TUPE: Abellio London Ltd (formerly Travel London Ltd) v Musse and others; CentreWest London Buses Ltd v Musse and others
The EAT holds that the employment tribunal had been entitled to uphold claims that employees who resigned because of a TUPE transfer that involved a significant change in their place of work had been subjected to a substantial change in working conditions giving rise to a material detriment. They had therefore been unfairly dismissed pursuant to reg.4(9) of the TUPE Regulations 2006.

TUPE: The Manchester College v Hazel and another
The EAT holds that the tribunal was correct to find that the respondent did not have an economic, technical or organisational defence in respect of the two claimants, who were dismissed as a result of harmonisation following a post-TUPE-transfer redundancy process.

Tribunal update: Policy on police dogs resulted in discrimination ...
We provide a summary and the full transcript of a tribunal ruling concerning a Metropolitan Police policy on police dogs that resulted in pregnancy and maternity discrimination.

... and employee dismissed for refusing to work more than 48 hours per week
In another interesting tribunal case, an employee was automatically unfairly dismissed for refusing to work more than 48 hours per week.

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Frequently asked questions

› Which employees are "shop workers" for the purpose of the right to opt out of Sunday working?

› Which employees are "betting workers" for the purpose of the right to opt out of Sunday working?

› Is the right for shop and betting workers to opt out of Sunday working dependent on a period of continuous employment?

› Can an opted-out shop or betting worker opt back in to Sunday working?

› What are the consequences of not informing shop and betting workers of their right to opt out of Sunday working?

› Can an employer offer shop or betting work to only those individuals who have no objection to working on Sundays?

› Do shop or betting workers employed to work only on Sundays have the right to opt out of Sunday working?

› Where a shop or betting worker opts out of Sunday working, is the employer obliged to offer alternative hours on other days of the week?

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From our blogs

› Asda worker not dismissed because of stutter

› Employment tribunal statistics 2011/12: cases resulting in awards of more than £10,000

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Editor's message

UNFAIR DISMISSAL COMPENSATION
The Ministry of Justice has published the employment tribunal statistics for 2011/12, which show that the median compensation awarded for unfair dismissal now stands at £4,560.

There is therefore a considerable gap between most sums awarded and the current £72,300 limit on unfair dismissal compensatory awards. Does this relatively high cap result in unrealistic expectations about the likely financial rewards of claiming unfair dismissal? The Government thinks so, and has opened a consultation on reducing it to the lower of 12 months' pay or a fixed sum of as little as £26,000.

While it is true that most awards are already considerably less than the proposed limits, consultant editor Darren Newman argues in his "perspective" article that it is the cases settled without a tribunal claim being brought where the impact of such a change would be felt most.

Jo Stubbs
Employment law editor,
XpertHR

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