Court rejects union’s argument that tribunal fees are unlawful
Unison has lost its legal challenge against the introduction of employment tribunal and employment appeal fees.
In R (on the application of Unison) v Lord Chancellor [2014] EWHC 218 (Admin), the union argued the fees, which were introduced in July, are indirectly discriminatory and unlawful because they are prohibitively expensive to employees on an average wage and therefore impact on their right to a fair hearing.
The Lord Chancellor countered that fees were offered on a sliding scale to reduce the impact on poorer claimants or exempt them from having to pay fees.
Rejecting Unison’s arguments, the court held that proceedings would not be so expensive as to be “virtually impossible or excessively difficult” but noted that the Lord Chancellor is to closely monitor the situation and take remedial measures if a discriminatory impact is felt.
Irwin Mitchell partner, Tom Flanagan says: “In effect, therefore, the application was rejected on the basis that it is simply too soon to assess the impact of the fees regime.
“The court had been asked to consider substantial evidence, much of it concerning hypothetical claimants and the predicted effect that charging fees would have on their ability to bring claims.”
Geoffrey Mead, partner at Eversheds, says: “The government will doubtless breathe a huge sigh of relief, given that it had already pledged, in the context of Scottish judicial review proceedings, that any fees previously paid would be reimbursed if the challenge were successful.”
Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, says he will appeal. He added: “We provided clear evidence that since the fees were introduced, the number of employment tribunal cases has collapsed.”
