Last week Employment Relations Minister Jo Swinson announced new rules aimed at streamlining the Employment Tribunal process. These changes will make tribunals easier to understand, more efficient and will help weed out weak claims.
In November 2011 the Government commissioned Mr Justice Underhill, former President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal to lead a fundamental review of the rules of procedure for employment tribunals.
In its response, the Government accepted that there should be new strike out powers to ensure that weak cases that should not proceed to full hearing are halted at the earliest possible opportunity.
It also accepted guidance from the Employment Tribunal Presidents to help ensure that judges deal with hearings in a consistent manner, which will ensure that parties know what to expect.
In addition, from the summer, when the new rules are expected to come into force, the amount of paperwork required to make a claim will be cut, making it easier to withdraw and dismiss claims.
There will also be a new procedure for preliminary hearings that combines separate pre-hearing reviews and case management discussions. This will reduce the overall number of hearings and lead to a quicker disposal of cases saving time and costs for all parties.
Ms Swinson said that the UK has one of the most flexible labour markets in the world, so the Government’s efforts to review all areas of employment law, not just tribunals, are about making sure business can get on and grow, while employees have the necessary protections in place.
The Government will also shortly publish an update report entitled Employment Law 2013: progress on reform, which will set out its vision of a flexible, efficient and fair labour market. The report outlines key achievements to date and looks ahead to future work on the Employment Law Review.