Employment Rights and Employment Courts

Dr Brian John Doyle
Dr Brian John Doyle

On Tuesday 27th October 2015 Judge Doyle, President of the Employment Tribunals in England & Wales and a previous academic at the University of Salford, will speak at Salford Business School. He will consider how far the employment tribunals have come in the 50 years since they were first established in 1965.

How far do they remain faithful to their founding principles of being open, fair, impartial and expert? To what extent do they remain accessible, speedy, informal and inexpensive?

He will address the challenges to an accessible justice system that the employment tribunals face and look forward to how they might be modernised to ensure that employment rights are effective and enforceable in a way that does justice to both worker and employer.

Surprise result of the UK 2015 election

UK 2015 Elections (CC) by Tjebbe van Tijen

UK 2015 Elections (CC) by  Tjebbe van Tijen

Judge Doyle’s address will reflect upon the surprise result of the UK election in 2015. During these elections the issue of employment tribunal fees being one that separated the political parties. The Conservative Party have clearly stated their intention of retaining employment tribunal fees, although a review of these and the system as a whole has been promised.

They have also pledged to support small business by restricting trade union strike activity. Any strike would require at least a minimum 50% turnout – and public sector strikes would need the backing of at least 40% of those eligible to vote.

Regarding the controversial topic of Zero Hours Contracts, the Conservatives have pledged to implement an exclusivity ban whereby zero-hours workers can’t be prevented from working for anyone else. Anti-avoidance measures will also be introduced that will give workers the protection of being able to bring employment tribunal claims if they are subjected to detrimental treatment after also working for other businesses.

The Conservative’s main ambition is to achieve full employment in Britain, by backing

“British businesses: cutting red tape, lowering taxes on jobs and enterprise, getting young people into work, boosting apprenticeships”

Its key policies in relation to employment law include the following:

National Minimum Wage and Living Wage

A Job and the acid test for Full Employment (CC) Julian Partridge

A Job and the acid test for Full Employment (CC) Julian Partridge

Increasing the National Minimum Wage is high on the agenda with the Conservatives accepting the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission to implement a National Living Wage, starting at £7.20 and rising to £9 an hour by 2020, replacing the £6.50 minimum wage.

They have also suggested they will increase the tax-free personal allowance so that by the end of 2020, “people who work for 30 hours a week on the National Living Wage will no longer pay any Income Tax at all”.

Zero Hours Contracts

Zero Hours Contracts (CC) by William Murphy

Zero Hours Contracts (CC) by  William Murphy

As outlined at the beginning of this blogpost, The Conservative Party have clearly stated that they will

“eradicate exclusivity in zero hours contracts”.

Exclusivity clauses have been used in a draconian manner to prevent workers from working for another employer or from doing so without their employer’s consent. Removing this preventive practice would allow zero hours workers to work for another employer if they wanted to and the original employer could not prevent this from happening.

Trade Unions and Industrial Action

 Hunter Desportes (CC) by Hunter Desportes

Hunter Desportes (CC) by  Hunter Desportes

The history of the tensions between The Conservative Party and Trade Unions is well documented and the relationship is set to become even more strained with the Conservatives promise to toughen the threshold for strike action which would require at least a minimum 50% turnout – and public sector strikes would need the backing of at least 40% of those eligible to vote. They also want to ensure that strike action cannot be called

“on the basis of ballots conducted years before.”

Previously, a three-month time limit had been suggested but this is not mentioned in the manifesto. In addition they have also pledged to:

  • Require all unions, not just those affiliated to Labour, to ask each existing union member whether they wish to pay the political levy and then repeat the question every five years. The £25m annual political fund income from 4.5 million political levy payers funds a wide range of political campaigning including being a chief source of funding for Labour.
  • Propose that unlawful or intimidatory picketing should become a criminal as opposed to civil offence and new protections should be available for those workers unwilling to strike. A named official will be required to be available at all times to the police to oversee the picket including the numbers on the line, currently set at six, in an existing code of conduct.
  • Compel unions to renew any strike mandate with a fresh ballot within four months of the first ballot and give employers the right to hire strike-breaking agency staff as well as require a union to give the employer at least a fortnight’s notice before the industrial action starts.
  • Empower the government to set a limit on the proportion of working time any public sector worker can spend on trade union duties.
  • Give the government certification officer powers to fine trade unions as much as £20,000 for breaches of reporting rules including an annual audit on its protests and pickets. The certification officer will also have power to initiate investigations and will in future be funded by a joint levy of unions and employers.
  • Require a clear description of the trade dispute and the planned industrial action on the ballot paper, so that all union members are clear what they are voting for.

Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships (CC) by Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Apprenticeships (CC) by Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The Conservatives have promised to create more than three million apprenticeships over the next five years. The law on apprenticeships is still in its infancy and there are grey areas as to how far apprentices are protected under employment legislation.

As well as these changes, recommendations made during the last government, via the Beecroft report, suggested a number of radical reforms of employment rights, which included a controversial proposal to enable employers to make no-fault dismissals, however this was overruled by the Liberal Democrats in the past. Now that the Conservatives have a majority government they can look again at such changes. All of these pledges will have an impact on the Employment Tribunal Service, which over the last 50 years has been at the mercy of the ruling political party.

Dr Brian John Doyle

Judge Brian Doyle

 

Dr Brian John Doyle, known as Judge Doyle, will examine these changes and the pressures upon access to justice in the employment tribunals. All courts and tribunals are experiencing some degree of pressure upon accessible justice. This is a result of a number of aspects:

  • changes to legal aid,
  • reduced opportunities for legal advice and assistance,
  • increased numbers of litigants in person,
  • new or increased court and tribunal fees, and
  • changes to substantive and procedural law designed to control or limit litigation.

The employment tribunals are no exception.

Judge Doyle will be deliver this fascinating speech at 6 p.m. on Tuesday 27th October 2015 in the Lady Hale Building, University of Salford.

If you would like to attend this event you must register – please book online here.