Lightening the Procedural load

Gordon Brown has revealed he is going to dedicate parliamentary time to deal with new proposals regarding employment grievance and disciplinary procedures, following a report commissioned earlier this year recommending the complete replacement of the laws in order to reduce workplace disputes and the time and cost they induce.

With almost 11,000 employees bringing claims to an Employment Tribunal in 2006/7 in the Yorkshire and Humberside region alone, businesses in the region need to be aware of the potential changes ahead.

Of the many detailed recommendations for review in the report, one of particular note is to give an employer credit in any tribunal procedure for genuine attempts he had made to resolve the case earlier.

A change in grievance and disciplinary procedures would be great news for businesses in the region, therefore pressure needs to be maintained on ministers to get the legislation through Parliament.  Employers will have an opportunity to respond to government proposals and they should use that to ensure the issue does not fall by the wayside.

In the meantime employers must remember how important procedure is and if they are in any doubt they should take advice before acting.  Any changes are not law yet and so we must continue to use existing procedures. Currently over 50% of the cases we see are procedurally defective and most of these involve small businesses that don’t have easy access to advice.

With the proposed changes in procedure, the administrative burden on businesses should fall dramatically, and we should s a reduced risk when it is necessary to dismiss staff.  We predict once the changes are implemented, employers will be able to revert to a less formal way of dealing with staff in grievance and disciplinary issues, and there should be fewer tribunal claims.  Those that do reach tribunal should be resolved more easily, cheaply and quickly.