Bond Pearce

The Government has this week set out in brief its proposals for reforming certain aspects of employment law.  Whilst many of the proposals are still subject to responses to the recent consultation (and public comments via the Red Tape Challenge), the Government has released a Second Statement of New Regulation in which it sets out its initial thoughts in respect of potential reforms to employment law, amongst others.  The Government has been clear in its intention to make efforts to reduce the regulatory burden on business in order to assist with growth and this Second Statement charts its continued efforts in this respect.

The Second Statement of New Regulation sets out what measures the Government expects to come into force between July and December 2011, although in reality we do not expect these changes to be made quite that quickly.  For employment purposes, these include introducing fees for lodging Employment Tribunal claims.  In the original wording of the Statement it was suggested that this would be done to tackle vexatious claims but that was quickly amended and the change stated to be an effort to transfer the costs of the Tribunal system from the taxpayer to users of it.  The Second Statement also originally stated that the decision had been made to increase the qualifying period for employees to be able to bring a claim for unfair dismissal from one to two years, although again the Government quickly amended the Statement to make it clear that no final decision has yet been taken in this respect.  Whether this change can actually be made remains to be seen; it could be argued that it is sex discriminatory, as women tend to stay in jobs for less time than men.  However, it is now quite clear that the Government is seriously contemplating making this change.  The Government has also announced its intention to consult on removing the Equality Act requirement for businesses to take reasonable steps to prevent harassment of their staff by third parties. 

It is thought that the move to increase the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims could reduce claims by over 4,000 a year, although it could lead to individuals alleging discrimination or whistle-blowing instead, where no qualifying period is required.  Equally the move to introduce fees is likely to reduce the number of claims that are brought by employees who have no realistic expectation of winning their claim.  No doubt there will be a strong trade union backlash but, from an employer's perspective, these changes are likely to be very welcome.