Posted: Friday, 4 January 2019 @ 13:43
In the summer, the government announced the introduction of a fee of up to £1,200 for taking claims to an employment tribunal and the prospect of a compensation cap in the Employment Tribunal.
What this means is that cases involving unpaid wages and redundancy pay will have an initial fee of £160 and a charge of £230 if it goes to a hearing, while those relating to unfair dismissal, discrimination complaints and equal pay claims will have an issue fee of £250 and a hearing fee of £950.
I think this is a welcome move and as Alexander Ehmann of the Institute of Directors has said it would make people think twice before submitting vexatious or weak claims.
However, this is no panacea as unemployed claimants will have their fees waived despite having the means to pay.
Even the government accepts this could mean that the majority of claimants are exempt from their new rules - a result that would undermine the entire purpose.
With respect to the cap, the government is to reduce the current compensation cap of
£72,300 for unfair dismissal claims to a cap which is the lower of either twelve months’ salary; or a figure between one and three times the annual median earnings (currently £25,882).
Therefore the combination of a reduced compensation cap and the proposed introduction of a fee (up to £1,200) for lodging a claim in the tribunal is likely to reduce the number of tribunal claims – a key government objective – by weeding out weak and vexatious claims limited to unfair dismissal.
However, we will only know what is going on once the new cap is revealed.
Therefore employers cannot breathe too deeply at the moment.
Justin Patten, Mediator