CAMPAIGN Unfair dismissal rights
MASSIVE ATTACK
The most massive attack
ever on working people’s civil rights is
coming to
a workplace near you
A slew of changes to the employment laws will slash workers’ rights, as the government exploits the economic crisis to demolish a century of hard- won improvements. With employers soon to be able to sack staff for no reason, the fear is that the door between the workplace and the job centre will be a revolving one.
What is in danger? The enterprise and regulatory reform Bill, published in May, proposes that any dispute be taken to ACAS before it reaches
tribunal, and that any
compensation awarded may now be capped at a lower level.
Other new legislation means you will have to be in a job for longer before you qualify to make an unfair dismissal claim; that from next year you may have to pay a fee to lodge a claim and go to tribunal; and that tribunals can now be adjudicated by judges sitting alone.
How has the qualifying period for unfair dismissal changed? From April 6, the length of time you must be in a job before you qualify for unfair dismissal went back to two years, taking it back to as it was under the last Conservative government.
What about the requirement to involve Acas? Most unfair dismissal claims will have to go to Acas before proceedings are begun.
24 uniteWORKS July/August 2012
BY NATHAN RIDER
Exceptions include cases with more than one claimant; other exceptions may yet be specified. While Acas is involved, the three-month cut-off point for launching a claim will be extended, though the Bill doesn’t specify by how much. The conciliation service is not compelled to take part.
And the cap on payouts? Even before the Coalition’s proposed changes the average award at tribunal for unfair dismissal was between four and five thousand pounds even though the theoretical maximum award a tribunal can make is £72,300.
Under the new proposals, depending on business type, a cap would be set at on the compensatory award of between one and three times median annual earnings, which the department for business, innovation and skills considers to be £26,000 – so at most £78,000. The cap would apply even if you earned more, so someone on £52,000 could receive no more than £26,000 in compensation – six months’ pay.
For low paid workers it’s worse, if you only earn £13,000, you would not get more than £13,000. All this ignores any pension loss.
Why does it matter if a tribunal is chaired by a judge sitting alone? Until April 1, employment judges presided with a trade union representative and a representative of the employers’ side,
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