Review of Employment Legislation 2011/12 Presentation by Sarah Veale, Head, Equality and Employment Rights Department, TUC
Review Of Employment Legislation • Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill • Red Tape Challenge • Employment Tribunals – fees and procedures • Unfair dismissal and protected conversations • Collective redundancies and TUPE • Parental rights and flexible working • Other – Lofstedt, trade union law, time off
Review of Dispute resolution • Early ACAS conciliation – Pre claim conciliation • How this will fit into other reforms
Red Tape Challenge • Regulation and the economy – case for de-regulation not proved • The business case? • Employers’ Charter
Modernising Employment Tribunals • Underhill review of procedures – wider strike out powers • Meanwhile caps for deposit orders have gone up to £ 1, 000 and for costs to £ 20, 000 • Witnesses – statements and expenses • Judges to sit alone for unfair dismissal cases
Fees for Employment Tribunals • Fee for lodging the claim and fee for the hearing; • Additional fee for higher value claims (over £ 30, 000 has been dropped • Remission system – consultation ongoing • Employer to pay the applicant’s fee if the applicant wins • Handling multiples
Unfair dismissal • Extension of the qualifying period – April 2012 • Beecroft proposals for compensated no fault compensated dismissal to replace unfair dismissal protection apparently dropped but. . . • “Settlement agreements” included in Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill and • decrease in maximum award; will depress the median award and hit middle income workers particularly hard
Other areas: TU law • The dog that has barked but not bitten (yet!) • Balloting – “Yes” vote thresholds – 40 or 50% • Bans on strikes in essential services • Allow use of agency workers • Tightening definition of a trade dispute
Settlement Agreements • Emerged from business lobby following removal of the default retirement age • Similar to “no prejudice” agreements but pre-dispute • Fraught with practical and legal difficulties • License to bully and harass • Would have to exclude
Settlement Agreements • Statutory grievance and disciplinary procedures Mark II? • Satellite litigation • The irony of a de-regulatory government proposing to regulate conversations in the workplace!
Other issues • Union facility time – no change to the law but huge political pressure in the public sector • Whistleblowing – remove a loophole that allowed personal contracts to be included • Consolidation of some H&S and NMW regulations • Lofstedt review of health and safety • TUPE revision – service provision and Cas • Collective redundancies – time limits and nature of consultees
Done and Dusted? • Equality Act – PS duty weakened; equal pay provisions not commenced; dual discrimination scrapped; • Other likely casualties – “reforms” to the EH • Agency workers
Agency Workers • TUC/CBI agreement underpinning EU Directive; covered GB only • 12 week qualifying period • “Swedish” derogation – workers employed directly by the agency exempted • No evidence of collapse in use of agency workers; collective agreements • Legal challenges? TUC complaint to EC
The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill • Heading for the House of Lords – could still be amended to include new areas of employment law reform • Employment regulation remains highly politicised with right wing Tory “Trade Union Reform Campaign” and Tax Payers’ Alliance • TUC campaign continues, focussing on ET fees and CR reforms
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