Employment tribunal fees scrapped!

Discussion in 'Just Talk' started by KIAB, Jul 26, 2017.

  1. KIAB

    KIAB Super Member

    chippie244 likes this.
  2. facilities

    facilities Guest

    I'm a little bit on the fence with this one, I imagine quit a few with genuine cases could not afford to take the risk of paying this tribunal fee and then the decision may go against them, however I am quit sure that there were many frivolous cases being heard at the taxpayer expense,

    I have first hand knowledge of time wasters that I came across in my capicty of union rep at a large hospital trust, unfortunately because they pay their £12.00 a month or whatever in some cases no matter how hopeless they would take up enormous amount of the reps time and don't forget the reps have their hospital job to carry on with at the same time, some of these members of staff I would consider unemployable in the private sector but I was expected to sit there and argue a lost cause,

    One noteable case was a member of staff who had been at the Trust for about 7 years and had virtually half of this time on the sick with mainly stress (it's the new bad back you know) and was at the final appeal stage of the decision to dismiss him, during this time he had been a member of 3 trade unions firstly the RCN, then Unison and finally Unite, I talked to the other reps that had represented him over the years and they had all washed their hands of him, I advised that he had reached the end of the appeals process and in my opinion he should start looking for another job, he was duly sacked, he told me he was taking the trust to a tribunal for unfair dismissal and could I start the ball rolling, I asked him if he had the required funds, a look of shock came over his smug little face as he didn't realise he would have to pay, he duly dropped his request and also left the union

    It was having to represent these people that I decided to give up being a union rep

    So what do other folk think about the fees being scrapped ?
     
  3. Another thread that will fall into the 2 predictable sides.

    A union has to represent its members to offer the best advice. It does not and cannot expect to achieve the impossible, nor should it.

    It should offer honest advice to its members, and ensure all rights are received. No more, no less.

    So then any claim taken to tribunal should be genuine.

    Losers should pay towards fees maybe, then both sides would take it seriously. As it is, rogue employers are laughing at the workers, who make the profits for them.
     
  4. joinerjohn1

    joinerjohn1 Screwfix Select

    Have to agree with Kiab. When fees were introduced (quietly might I add) unscrupulous employers saw the chance to get rid of staff for the least excuse, knowing full well these employees had no chance of raising the fees for a tribunal. Losing employers should be liable for the costs of the tribunal.
     
    KIAB likes this.
  5. facilities

    facilities Guest

    On balance John I agree with you there are a lot of bad employers out there, I just know there will be a lot of frivolous cases brought and we the taxpayers will be picking up the tab, I wish there was some way of fairly policing the system but I doubt there is
     
  6. joinerjohn1

    joinerjohn1 Screwfix Select

    Dunno facilities,, frivolous cases (if proven to be frivolous) the cost of the tribunal should be paid by the litigant. I'm sure that would deter all but the most determined, frivolous litigants.
     
    KIAB likes this.
  7. KIAB

    KIAB Super Member

    I have known peeps with very good cases,& unable to bring a case due to not have the money availble to do so.
     
  8. facilities

    facilities Guest

    Kiab if memory serves me correctly if these peeps are members of a trade union the union would fund it but only if it was thought to be a strong case.
     
  9. KIAB

    KIAB Super Member

    Sadly they weren't.
     
  10. facilities

    facilities Guest

    Every sympathy, I do believe that you shouldn't have to have a union behind you to get justice
     
  11. Agreed. Way too many workers rights have been eroded.

    I know there are bad employees, mainly because of poor and weak management. But there are way too many rogue employers now.
     
  12. longboat

    longboat Screwfix Select

    It's a tricky balancing act, that's for sure.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...mployment-tribunal-cases-are-the-lawyers.html
     
  13. It shouldn't be beyond the wit of an impartial panel to determine if each individual case has legs before it's acted on.

    It is certainly unfair to punish those who do have a perfectly valid case by removing their entitlement to legal fees, just because a minority (I'm presuming it's a tiny minority) try to exploit the situation.

    Judgements on 'fairness' are being made all the time - if you phone up your Legal Protection cover on your house or car insurance, they will make the judgement on whether it's a case worth pursuing; if it ain't, they won't*.

    Ditto with any 'grievance policy' at work or in schools - an independent panel (eg governors - with pro legal advice) will determine the rights or wrongs of each, and any suggestion that a case has been brought with 'malicious intent' will serve the complainant very badly.



    *Always grey areas, tho'. A new arrival at my mum-in-law's wee housing estate brought a huge caravan with them, and preceded to park it outside their house against the terms of the lease. Their direct neighb complained to no avail, so phoned up her household LP; "Yes, it's against the terms of the lease so, yes, you can theoretically pursue it - but, no, we won't finance it - it can become drawn-out and cost both sides a daft amount..."
     
  14. Can you tell us some stories about notable successes where justice was truly served? There must be a fair number of cases where you felt justifiably proud of your input?
     
  15. facilities

    facilities Guest

    No Prizes for guessing who the winners are! In each case always the parasites sorry I mean lawyers
     
  16. facilities

    facilities Guest


    There were success stories and some very genuine members of staff with legitimate issues, whom I had no problem representing, however the really time consuming cases were invariably brought by staff that couldn't accept that they were at fault and they would take the appeals process to the limit, they were usually serial offenders and within the NHS the rules were in place to allow them to do this, you only have to look at HR which is now a vast industry, in my day in years gone by there was a personnel manager and their secretary, common sense tended to prevail and things usually got sorted. (That's my recollection anyway)
     
    Deleted member 33931 likes this.

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