Letter to the Ministry of Justice Employment Tribunal Fees Review Team

Posted By: James

Friday 2nd October 2015

The Law Society welcomes the Ministry of Justice's (MoJ) review of the impact of Employment Tribunal (ET) fees. It is important for the government to ascertain the reasons behind the 67 per cent reduction in the number of people taking disputes to the ET.

We hope that the review will be able to explain how much this huge fall is a consequence of broader economic factors, the introduction of Acas early conciliation, and the introduction of ET fees. It is concerning that the decline in cases is even deeper in areas such as sexual discrimination (87 per cent) and equal pay (70 per cent).

Discouraging employees from pursuing valid claims does not just harm the individual, it also puts many well-run businesses at a competitive disadvantage compared to the minority who adopt a 'less careful' attitude to employment law.

The Society's view is that ET fees have harmed access to justice and that, since July 2013, many people have not been able to enforce their employment rights.

This is because:

    ET fees are high compared to average earnings
    ET fees are high compared to likely awards
    many of those who win will not be reimbursed the fee, and
    the remission system is confusing, uses complicated language, and is hard to navigate

Download our full response below.

Making Employment Tribunals work for all: Is it time for a single employment jurisdiction? A discussion document (PDF 503kb)

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/policy-campaigns/consultation-responses/documents/making-employment-tribunals-work-for-all-law-society-response-september-2015/
   

Letter to the Ministry of Justice Employment Tribunal Fees Review Team (PDF 155kb)

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/policy-campaigns/consultation-responses/documents/letter-to-moj-employment-tribunal-fee-review-september-2015/

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