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Government announces "the most radical reform to the employment law system for decades"
The Government has published its response to the public consultation on resolving workplace disputes. The proposals include: increasing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection from one to two years; consulting on the introduction of "protected conversations"; and a requirement for all claims to be lodged with Acas for conciliation before they can be submitted to the tribunal. The Government is also seeking views on reforming the TUPE Regulations and the law regarding consultation on collective redundancies.
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| Perspective |
Protected conversations: an unwelcome layer of complexity?
Consultant editor Darren Newman asks if the Government's proposed "protected conversations" could end up rivalling the now abandoned statutory dispute resolution procedures in terms of setting out to reduce litigation but in reality creating a legal nightmare.
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| Case law |
Discrimination questionnaire: no justification for drawing victimisation inferences where replies are "transparently genuine"
In Deer v Walford and another EAT/0283/10, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that replies to a statutory discrimination questionnaire were "transparently genuine" and that there was no justification for drawing inferences of victimisation.
Equal pay: female local authority workers employed on "common terms and conditions" with male comparators
The Court of Session held that a group of female administrative and clerical workers making equal pay claims against a local authority were on "common terms and conditions" with a group of male manual workers who were based in different locations.
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| Employment tribunal decisions |
XpertHR provides summaries of recent employment tribunal rulings involving, among other things, age and race discrimination.
› Age discrimination: employer justifies differences in treatment under early-release scheme
› Company boss belittled and humiliated constructively dismissed employee on the ground of his age
› Law graduate wins race discrimination case against Nando's
› Age discrimination: youthful pub manager boasted about "new young dynamic team" to "redundant" older worker
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| Podcasts |
"Radical" employment law reform; and employee engagement
In this edition of XpertHR Weekly, we focus on the employment law proposals unveiled by the Government last week, which it described as "the most radical reform to the employment law system for decades". We are joined by special guest, employment law expert and consultant editor Darren Newman, who shares his thoughts on various proposals. We also discuss the findings of the 2011 XpertHR survey on employee engagement.
Private sector pay prospects; and sex discrimination
We discuss the results of XpertHR's annual survey of private sector pay prospects, which assesses pay intentions among 286 employers covering 587 different pay review groups. We also look at the employment tribunal decision in Armstrong v DB Regio Tyne and Wear Ltd ET/2500602/11, in which the tribunal considered a sex discrimination claim against an employer that allowed some, but not all, of its employees to retain their flexible-working arrangements following a review of its rosters.
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| New on XpertHR |
XpertHR launches 2012 HR calendar
Our 2012 calendar covers: forthcoming legislation and cases on appeal; XpertHR surveys, conferences and events; religious festivals; bank/public holidays; training dates; and much more.
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| From our blogs |
› Security guard used CCTV to harass female worker
› Scottish worker loses "sweaty sock" race discrimination claim
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| Editor's message |
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"RADICAL REFORM" AHEAD
On 23 November 2011, the Government announced various proposals, which it described as "the most radical reform to the employment law system for decades".
The proposals include an increase in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection from one to two years. It remains to be seen whether or not this will lead to an increase in discrimination claims, with employees attempting to argue that their dismissal is discriminatory in some way to circumvent the extended service requirement.
The proposals also include the introduction of employment tribunal fees. The Government will be consulting on two options: a system involving the payment of a fee to lodge a claim, with a separate fee to take that claim to a hearing; and a £30,000 threshold, so that claimants seeking an award in excess of £30,000 will pay a higher fee.
One of the Government's more controversial suggestions is the introduction of "protected conversations", which will allow either employers or employees to initiate an off the record discussion about an employment issue "at any time ... as a way of resolving the matter without fear". However, protection will not extend to acts of discrimination.
 Jeya Thiruchelvam
Equal opportunities editor,
XpertHR
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