42 . Glasgow Business May/June 2014


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>Continued from page 41


agree each minute as a record of what was said. Despite these careful


procedural obligations, Donald said an employer does not need to do an awful lot more: “Te most important thing is not to reach a snap decision. Follow your procedures, listen to what the employee has to say, digest all the information, do some investigation into the mater if it is required, then make a decision and make sure they have a right of appeal.” However, recent government


legislation may put a brake on the rise in claims going to Employment Tribunal, as from July last year employees have to pay an initial fee to bring a claim to a tribunal, and a larger payment if the claim goes to a full hearing. Further legislation introduced


on 6 April this year also makes it mandatory in most claims for the employer and employee to consider siting down with Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) to discuss issues before any claim is lodged. Te Early Conciliation


“Early Conciliation initiative was announced as part of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, and means that claimants must now turn to Acas for Early Conciliation services to try to settle the dispute”


initiative was announced as part of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013, and means that claimants must now turn to Acas for Early Conciliation services to try to setle the dispute without going to a tribunal. Gina Wilson, Partner at


Simpson & Marwick, said that while the fees are proving controversial, they are beneficial for employers. She explained: “In general, this is good news for employers as it means that employees are going to have to ‘put their money where their mouth is’, so it should have the effect of puting off some vexatious claimants.” Gina added that the Early


Conciliation initiative is also beneficial: “While it has been framed in the legislation as mandatory, it isn’t actually because


an employer can say that there is no hope of conciliation and wait to see if the employee wants to take it to a tribunal. However, Early Conciliation does provide a good opportunity to resolve maters before they grow arms and legs and the employer has to go to the expense of defending the claim in tribunal.” Another positive legal


development that employers should be aware of is the introduction of a new and free independent advisory service to assess the health of employees that have been off on extended sick leave. It is expected that the state-funded Health & Work Assessment Advisory Service will be launched later this year and will automatically following GP referral assessments of employees who have been (or are expected to


be) off work for four weeks or more, with the aim of helping them get back to work as early as possible. Gina said this should prove a


big help for smaller companies: “Tis additional support for sickness absence is great news for SMEs as they oſten have limited expertise in occupational health


DID YOU KNOW? What can come as a shock to some companies is that they are not only liable for how they behave towards their staff but they are potentially liable for how their staff behave toward one another. So if people are making sexist or racist remarks, then as an employer they are liable for that.


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