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expenditure (£15.4bn) is on staff costs, so for this, and many other reasons, staff issues are always high on the list of topics of interest to managers in the higher education sector. In this article we review some of
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the employment law developments in England and Wales in 2014 and their impact on staff in the sector, and scan the horizon for some of the issues we can expect in 2015.
Fewer claims in employment tribunals In 2014 we saw the first full year since the introduction of fees in the employment tribunal and the introduction of ACAS mandatory early conciliation. Since 29 July 2013 claimants have been
required to pay a fee in order to present a claim in the employment tribunal, and following notification that a claim has been listed for hearing, unless due to their financial circumstances they are able to claim remission of fees.
“Since 29 July 2013 claimants have been required to pay a fee in order to present a claim in the employment tribunal”
The amount payable varies depending on the type of claim with claims for discrimination, whistleblowing, unfair dismissal and equal pay atracting a fee of £250 for presentation of a claim and £950 following notification of hearing. Then since 6 April 2014 claimants must
contact ACAS before submiting a claim to the employment tribunal. These two developments are generally
considered to be responsible for a large reduction in the number of claims being made to employment tribunals. The tribunal statistics published by the Ministry of Justice for the quarter April to June 2014 indicate that the number of single claims received by employment tribunals in this period was 70% fewer than in the same period of 2013 although it's unclear how much of this reduction is due to mandatory early conciliation rather than the effect of the introduction of fees. Anecdotally, we are aware that this trend is also being experienced in the higher education sector albeit that the claims that are still being brought are generally complex and frequently include allegations of discrimination. On the face of it, fewer claims is good
news for employers. However, there are concerns that disaffected employees
ccording to the HESA data for 2012/13 published in 2014, 55.2% of UK higher education institutions'
Employment law review
Betina Rigg, employment lawyer and Head of Higher Education at leading education law firm Veale Wasbrough Vizards, takes a look back at some of the employment law developments in England and Wales in 2014 and scans the horizon for 2015
who cannot afford to bring claims and who remain in the workplace may be disillusioned and de-motivated and that this will have an impact on the 'health' of organisations.
Flexible working Since 1 July 2014, employees with 26 weeks' continuous employment have had the right to request to work flexibly in relation to the hours they work, the times they are required to work and their place of work (as between their home and any of the employer's workplaces). This
is an extension of the right which was previously available to employees who were carers of children and certain adults. There is a prescribed procedure that employees have to follow when making an application and that employers have to follow when responding. The obligation on employers is to
deal with such requests in a reasonable manner and employers can only refuse a request on one or more of the eight grounds listed in the amended sections of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It is too early to assess the take up
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