employment tribunal

Labour’s New Deal

18th July 2024

From an employee’s perspective, these proposed changes are wholly positive. For employers the changes will require careful consideration and some work to ensure that recruitment and HR processes are both legal and effective. Labour’s plans are not inherently novel, but they will extend your duty to ensure that dismissals are fair and properly handled from the first day of employment.

Successfully defending a constructive dismissal case

21st February 2014

Constructive dismissal cases are notoriously difficult to win. Despite this, a number are brought every year. No doubt, there are some constructive dismissal cases that are justified. The constructive dismissal claim we defended for our client at the end of last year was not one of them. This blog is about why the claimant in […]

Are employment lawyers going to be less busy from today?

29th July 2013

Today is an important day for employment lawyers, and for a large part of the working population and their employers, as any employee wishing to take their employer to a tribunal will now have to pay a fee of between £160 to £250 to lodge a claim and a further fee of between £230 to […]

Fast Track Acas Settlements

26th April 2013

Over the years, we have dealt with Acas to settle employment tribunal claims on many occasions and generally our experience has been good. They provide a very useful service in helping Claimants and Respondent discuss the possibility of settlement without any comment on the merits of the case. Once a settlement has been reached in […]

Employment law reforms: spring is here with the buds of new legislation!

28th March 2012

With the April changes in employment law rapidly heading our way, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) has published an annual review on employment law. We thought it was a good time to give you all a summary of the changes about to happen and the proposals for future change. If the government […]

Employment Tribunal Statistics: a reminder of how the recession has hit UK employers

9th September 2011

Every year, the Tribunal Service, which includes the employment tribunals, publishes its statistics. Usually, not a great deal changes from one year to the next. However, the 2009/10 statistics showed that there had been a 56% increase in claims brought in the employment tribunals. With 236,100 claims over all, this was the highest total ever. […]

How does the Qualifying Period work?

10th May 2011

The concept of the Qualifying Period is well known to employers. It is the length of time an employee must work with their employer to acquire a number of statutory rights, most notably the right to claim unfair dismissal. There is however, still a lot of confusion about the Qualifying Period. We often hear employers […]

When do you ask for return of company property and disconnect from intranet access?

14th March 2011

On Friday I sat through a meeting where an employee went through half of a box of tissues, recounting the trauma of her removal from her employer’s premises in the context of a termination by way of a generous compromise agreement. At the start of a redundancy or disciplinary process, we are often asked to […]

Dealing with stress at work in 12 practical steps

17th February 2011

Stress is the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them. According to the HSE, about 1 in 7 people say that they find their work either very or extremely stressful (Psychosocial working conditions in Britain in 20071). Depression and anxiety are the most common stress-related complaints […]

Why don’t my clients let me have my day in court?

4th February 2011

I was due to represent an individual client in a three day tribunal hearing on 16, 17 and 18th February. Once again, the case has settled shortly before the hearing, just as I was clearing my desk of other work in order to prepare for the case. Whilst we have a very successful track record […]