Round-up of 29 July Employment Law Changes

A number of major Employment law changes took place on 29 July. We have provided a brief snapshot of the main changes below:

A number of major Employment law changes took place on 29 July. We have provided a brief snapshot of the main changes below:

• Employment Tribunal fees – Unless they qualify for ‘remission’, Claimants will now have to pay a fee to bring a claim to the Tribunal. For a Type A claim such as a Holiday pay claim, this will cost Claimants £160 to issue the claim, and £230 to attend a hearing. For a Type B claim such as Unfair Dismissal or Discrimination, this will cost Claimants £250 to issue the claim, and £950 to attend a hearing.

• Settlement Agreements – Compromise Agreements have been relabelled Settlement Agreements, which is designed to reflect the intentions of the parties more accurately, and sit consistently with pre-termination negotiations.

• Pre-termination negotiations – Negotiations which take place between an Employer and Employee will now be inadmissible in straightforward Unfair Dismissal cases. This extends the existing ‘without prejudice’ rule, as the discussions can still be inadmissible even where no dispute has arisen. Importantly however, pre-termination negotiations only apply to Unfair Dismissal cases. Where an Employee brings a Whistleblowing or Discrimination claim for example, such conversations would still be admissible, and do not receive the same protections. Additionally, if either the Employer or Employee engages in ‘improper behaviour’, the negotiations will only remain inadmissible to the extent the Tribunal sees fit.

• Cap on Compensation – the Compensatory Award for Unfair Dismissal claims is now limited to the lower of the statutory cap (currently £74,200) or 12 months earnings. This should put an end to grossly inflated schedules of loss, based on a number of years’ losses.

• New Employment Tribunal rules – On 29 July, the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013 came into force and replaced the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2004, bringing with them a number of changes. Tribunals can now list ‘preliminary hearings’ with a Judge sitting alone (which will effectively cover both pre-hearing reviews and case management discussions). A number of different Orders can be made at these hearings, and a Judge can decide whether a claim (or a response) should be struck out. Tribunals will now also have to reject claims if the appropriate fee is not paid, and where a Claimant withdraws their claim, this will usually now be formally dismissed without the Respondent having to make an application in this respect.

If you have any further questions or would like any further information in relation to any of the above changes, please don’t hesitate to contact your local IM Employment law specialist.