Stephen Levinson puts Vince Cable’s new regime for employment tribunals under the spotlight
The new regime for employment tribunals revealed by the Business Secretary is a product of a variety of motives. Politics and money were the principal drivers and their effect will be analysed in this article, which will suggest that while their overall impact is mixed some will cause long-term damage to a system that has many merits as well as recognised flaws.
Good sense
First, it has to be recognised that some very welcome changes are to be made. The proposals for encouraging early conciliation and mediation, streamlining compromise agreements and redrafting s147 Equality Act 2010 all make sense and are to be encouraged. In addition rewriting the whistle blowing laws to prevent employees bringing claims based on complaints about breaches of their own contracts is long overdue. Also on the list of sensible ideas is the fundamental review of tribunal rules to be carried out by Mr Justice Underhill; and the removal of some of the absurdities of obtaining CRB checks.
Money & politics
The business community
