Today (April 7) is the first working day for new employment tribunal rules, which have been introduced in a bid to reduce the number of tribunals, as, according to ministers, this would avoid “stress, time delays and excessive costs”.
From now on, employees who want to bring a case of unfair dismissal or discrimination will have to notify the conciliation service Acas (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) first to see if the dispute can be resolved.
According to Acas, the new early conciliation service will benefit small firms particularly, as they often cannot afford the costs of a tribunal and do not have comprehensive HR policies.
Instead, any current or former employee with a complaint can inform Acas by filling in a simple online form and then the conciliation service will contact the employer to see whether an agreement can be reached within a month without having to go to a tribunal.
As a spokesman for Acas has pointed out, the average cost to an employer of going to a tribunal is £3,700 and, since it generally lasts four days, it is a drain on time as well as money.
The new system is based on a programme Acas has been running since 2009, which deals with about 20,000 cases a year, of which only a quarter go on to tribunal. The average cost to the employer of resolving a claim is about £480 and, on average, takes just one day.
In addition, from today, employers may face fines if they lose a case that ends up in a tribunal, a move that has been described as an incentive for bosses to respect the rights of their staff.
The fines will be implemented if an employer is shown to have demonstrated particularly poor workplace practices and could be up to £5,000 on top of any back pay that is due to the employee.