Grant admitted the fees could be "looked at again" if they prove to be unjust and unfair. "It's important to remember too that these are new fees we have committed, that we will monitor the impact very, very carefully on women and other individuals with protected characteristics to ensure that justice and fairness is done. And if it is not done of course we will look at it again," said Grant. Employers' organisations the CBI and the Federation of Small Businesses have welcomed the fees, however, Unison, one of the country's largest unions, has been given permission to seek a judicial review of the introduction Employment Tribunal fees. The TUC have also criticised the fees and said the reforms will deter victims of abuse at work to suffer in silence. According to the Ministry of Justice, there were 186,300 claims accepted by Employment Tribunals in the year to March 2012. Of those, 31% were for unfair dismissal, breach of contract and redundancy. About 27% of the 186,300 claims were withdrawn, but employers in those cases still had to pay legal fees when preparing a defence.
ACAS PUBLISH NEW GUIDANCE ON SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS
1 August 2013
Settlement Agreements came in to force on the 29 July 2013 and Acas has published new guidance on the subject alongside the introduction of a new Code of Conduct on Settlement Agreements. Failure to follow a Code of Practice will not, in itself, make a person or organisation liable to proceedings, nor will it lead to an adjustment in any compensation award made by an employment tribunal. However, employment tribunals will take the Code into account when called upon to consider relevant cases.
Full details of Settlement Agreements are included within the Settlement Agreement booklet however some key points to note:
Settlement agreements are legally binding contracts that waive an individual's rights to make a claim covered by the agreement to an employment tribunal or court. The agreement must be in writing. They usually include some form of payment to the employee and may often include a reference. They are voluntary. They can be offered at any stage of an employment relationship. Settlement agreements are legally binding contracts which can be used to end an employment relationship on agreed terms. They can also be used to resolve an on-going workplace dispute, for example, a dispute over holiday pay. These agreements can be proposed by either an employer or an employee, although it will normally be the employer.
Once a valid settlement agreement has been signed, the employee will be unable to make
AMENDMENT MADE TO LIMIT ON COMPENSATARY AWARD FOR UNFAIR DISMISSAL
6 August 2013
The Unfair Dismissal (Variation of the Limit of Compensatory Award) Order 2013 has been published which amends the limit on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal claims.
The Order amends the limit on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal claims by introducing an additional, alternative limit. In an unfair dismissal claim the limit on the
CIPP Policy News Journal
16/04/2014, Page 82 of 519
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