Employment law update April 2012
April has seen a whole raft of changes to employment law.
Unfair dismissal qualifying period
Previously, it’s been a low as 6 months and a high as 2 years! The qualifying period for unfair dismissal increased from 1 year to 2 years again with effect from 6th April 2012. This means that employees who start work on or after this date will now have to work until April 2014 to gain protection from unfair dismissal. Employees who started employment before this date are unaffected and can continue to bring a claim after 1 year’s service.
Employment Tribunal practice and procedure
Other changes to the Employment Tribunal practice and procedure for claims issued on or after 6th April, include:
- An increase to the amount of a deposit order which a Tribunal can order a party to pay if their claim has no reasonable prospects of success (from £500 to £1,000).
- An increase to the maximum amount of costs a Tribunal can award against an unsuccessful party (from £10,000 to £20,000).
- Witness statements are to be “taken as read” rather than formally read out at Tribunal hearings, unless the Tribunal directs otherwise.
- Unfair dismissal cases to be heard by an Employment Judge sitting alone, rather than with an additional two lay members (as had been the case previously).
- The removal of state funded witness expenses, with the parties themselves now having to pay for their own witnesses’ expenses.
The Government previously announced that it would be introducing fees for individuals who issue Employment Tribunal claims and also when cases go to a hearing. There has been no confirmation of this so only time will tell whether this change will come into force and, if so, when.
Statutory payments
From 1st April 2012 statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay increased from £128.73 to £135.45 per week. Statutory sick pay also increased from £81.60 to £85.85 per week. The weekly earnings threshold for these payments increased from £102 to £107.
So…how does all of this affect employers?
The increase to the unfair dismissal qualifying period is likely to be the most significant change to employment law this year. On one hand, this seems like good news for employers. It may lead to a drop in the number of unfair dismissal cases brought in the Tribunals and may also encourage employers to grow and recruit more employees.
However, claimants will still be able to bring discrimination or “automatically unfair dismissal” claims – where no such qualifying period exists. Practitioners fear an increase in discrimination claims as disgruntled ex-employees seek to find a way of pursuing a claim where no right to claim unfair dismissal exists. Such claims tend to involve longer hearings and, consequently, additional costs for employers in defending such claims. Also, there is no cap on discrimination compensation which could in theory expose employers to a greater financial risk if they lose.
Only time will tell how these changes work in practice and the impact they will have on employers and businesses.
For more details or to discuss this or any other employment law issue contact Integra at contact@integralegal.co.uk