Acas Warn of New Tribunal Fees

The Ministry of Justice launched its consultation Charging Fees in Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal on 14 December 2011. The consultation is seeking views on two different options for charging fees to those seeking to bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal. Option 1 proposes charging separate fees for issuing a claim and bringing a claim to hearing respectively. The fees will be assessed depending on the ‘level’ of the claim. The consultation sets claims for redundancy and notice pay at the lower end of the scale (level 1) and those claims involving discrimination, equal pay and whistleblowing at the top end (level 3), with claims for unfair dismissal sitting in the middle (level 2). Option 2 sets out a fee structure whereby a claimant will state how much they believe their claim to be worth, for claims up to £30,000 a lower fee will be paid based on the ‘level’ of the claim as in option 1, with the award limited to £30,000. For those claimants seeking an award over £30,000 a higher fee will be charged but the award will not be limited.

Andrew Wareing, chief operating officer at Acas, has warned that the proposed introduction of fees will make employers less inclined to deal with grievances when they first arise. He expressed concern that employers will wait to attempt any mediation until they are sure that the employee is ‘prepared to pay’ to bring a claim.  Starting in April 2014, all those wishing to submit claims to the Employment Tribunal will have to notify Acas, from which point Acas will have a set time to attempt conciliation before the claim proceeds to a hearing, however the fee structure detailed at option 1 could be introduced prior to this requirement in 2013. In the meantime, Acas are preparing a formal submission to the consultation outlining their concerns that the proposed tribunal fees will seriously impact on their ability to resolve cases at an early stage. 

If employers ignore staff grievances on the basis that they do not believe the employee has the necessary funds to bring a claim in the Employment Tribunal, this may escalate the original grievance into a dispute due to a lack of communication. Should it subsequently transpire that an employee does have the requisite funds to bring a claim to the Tribunal, the employee may be entitled to an increased award due to a failure on behalf of the employer to follow Acas guidelines in relation to grievance procedures. An employer may also miss out on a crucial period in which a settlement could be reached without the claim proceeding to Tribunal. Such an approach to employee grievances may also lead to poor employer-employee relations and Acas has urged employers to put greater effort into resolving conflicts before they grow out of control.

This bulletin is for general guidance purposes only and should not be used for any other purpose.

Brabners Chaffe Street is a Limited Liability Partnership

© Brabners Chaffe Street LLP 2011. All rights reserved