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Law Updates |
Official figures show that the number of complaints to Employment Tribunals in the year ended October 2000 have increased by 32% on the previous year.
This continues the trend of ever-increasing numbers of claims and is partly due to more legislation, an increasing claims mentality on the part of employees and the growth in 'no win, no fee' lawyers.
Employers' organisations welcomed the government's proposals in 2001 for reform of the system, which include requiring employers to have an internal disputes procedure in place, charging employees to make a claim and awarding costs against an employee where a claim is shown to be unfounded. Predictably, the unions are opposed to the proposed changes. However, following public consultation and pressure from the trade unions, these proposals have not only been watered down, but have completely changed direction. The proposal to charge Applicants a 'deposit' on the submission of a Tribunal claim has been dropped. Even more interesting is the change to the claims registration process: the public register now contains the details of a claim only after the case has been heard, which means 80% of claims will never be registered simply because they are withdrawn or settled before reaching a Tribunal Hearing.
All in all, little has been done to deter 'try-it-on' claims.