New regulations on workplace disputes

Friday, 1 October 2004 12:00 AM

Among the flurry of new laws to come into force today are regulations covering the resolution of employment disputes.

From today, all employers will have to have disciplinary and grievance processes in place, and use them correctly in any workplace dispute.

The Government believes that the new regulations, an update of the 2002 Employment Act, will save the taxpayer up to £34 million a year with up to 37,000 disputes being settled in the workplace, rather than in employment tribunals.

However, the TUC believes that the new regulations are so complex that employees could be denied access to justice.

Under the new procedures, all cases will have to go through a three-step procedure involving: the issue being set in writing, a meeting between the parties, and an appeal meeting if there is no resolution. This procedure will have to be followed before the case is sent to an employment tribunal, failure to do so could lead to financial penalties for either party if the case reaches a tribunal.

Any dismissal which has not followed the procedures will automatically be found to be unfair.

In addition, all employees have the right to be accompanied to workplace disciplinary meetings by a union official or work colleague.

Employment Relations Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said: "Nobody wants to go through tribunal proceedings unless they have to, and yet research has shown that nearly two thirds of applications come from employees who have not discussed the problem with their employers first.

"Naturally, there will always be cases when the issue cannot be resolved without a tribunal hearing - but there are also many which are sorted out almost on the steps of the tribunal, before the hearing. This cannot be good for either party involved.

"Many good employers already have and use grievance and disciplinary procedures. But there are some who either don't use existing procedures, or don't have any in place. These new regulations provide a simple, easy to follow basic procedure which will benefit employees, employers, and the tax payer."

However, the general secretary of the TUC, Brendan Barber, said that he is concerned that workers in non-unionised workplaces may not be fully informed about the regulations, and if they fail to follow them exactly may be unable to take their case to an employment tribunal.

Mr Barber, said: "Unions have always led the way in resolving disputes and grievances within the workplace, only ever resorting to employment tribunals as a last resort. But the new procedures are too complicated, and are more likely to create confusion than solve workplace problems.

'Now more than ever before, trade union membership is the best safeguard to stop employees losing out under the new procedures. Employees in non-unionised workplaces don't have access to expert advice from trained union reps so will struggle to understand the new rules. Where there are no unions to help, staff are likely to be deterred from taking cases, so will find themselves missing out on justice at work."

The TUC will be pushing the Government to review the legislation in two years time.

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