Law Society urges reform of employment tribunals into single jurisdiction

“The complexity and cost of using the current system discourages people from bringing legitimate claims and businesses from defending wrongful accusations,” Chancery Lane said.

Its proposals, which can be viewed here, would see claims dealt with flexibly, depending on their intricacy and the financial stakes involved.

All employment law disputes would be dealt with in a single jurisdiction with a single point of entry and consisting of four levels. These are:

1. Document based decision making: “simple straightforward cases, such as unpaid wage claims, where the judge can make a decision on the documents alone”.

2. Judicial inquisitorial approach: “straightforward cases, such as redundancy payments or failure to consult, that need further investigation”.

3. Encourage early neutral evaluation and alternative dispute resolution: “cases that make up the majority of claims currently heard in the ET”.

4. Cases heard under civil litigation principles: “employment disputes which are currently heard in the civil court, such as restrictive covenants. Costs will apply to some cases.”

“This would create an efficient system where employers and employees could get a feasible recourse,” the Law Society argued.

Chancery Lane also proposes making ADR exit points available throughout the system, with the fee for mediation removed, and greater use of modern technology “to make sure people get the best advice and quickest outcomes”.

Law Society President Jonathan Smithers said: "Employment tribunals must work for employers and employees. People should not be discouraged from bringing legitimate claims or from opposing them because of the cost or complexity associated with the process.

“Our proposed system would be easy for the public to use, as there would be a single entry point, and make sure that cases are dealt with in the most appropriate way. The single jurisdiction would increase awareness of different types of alternative dispute resolution methods, including the benefits of solving the dispute before the hearing."

Smithers said the Law Society would submit its proposals to the Ministry of Justice’s review of employment tribunal fees.

He cited MoJ statistics which suggested that since the introduction of the controversial fees, the amount of disputes proceeding to the tribunal had fallen by more than 60%.

Smithers added that, if implemented, the Law Society’s proposals could allow such fees to be scrapped.