Employment Law Prospects 2012: Workers are going to be stuffed

This is from the newsletter published yesterday by Employment Law Barrister Daniel Barnett:-

"Expected Developments in Employment law" 2012 (my comments in italics)

"31 January
closure date for calls for evidence on the effectiveness of TUPE and the scope of the collective redundancy rules - may result in a formal consultation later in the year (TUPE protection will be brought down to the absolute minimum and you could be made redundant in just 30 days)

1 February
new tribunal award limits come into force (Good but still inadequate)

6 March
consultation closes on fees in tribunals and the EAT (It could cost you around £1750 to go to an employment tribunal - far more if you want to appeal)

April
expected that qualifying period for unfair dismissal will increase to 2 years · various tribunal reforms to take effect, e.g. increase in deposit orders and costs awards (bad)· unpaid parental leave to increase to 4 months · working time rules to be amended to allow holiday to be carried forward in limited circumstances · maternity/paternity/adoption pay increases · SSP increases (you could be sacked for no good reason after 1 year 11 months and you will have no effective legal remedy)

October
pensions auto-enrolment begins for larger employers (Good) · national minimum wage may increase, depending on what the Low Pay Commission recommends in February (wait and see)

Developments with no confirmed date but likely to be progressed in 2012
penalties for employers who breach of employment rights (Good but expect wrist slap)· early compulsory ACAS conciliation of all tribunal claims (possibly good) · amendment of whistleblowing rules so that disclosures about breaches of employment contracts are no longer covered (Bad) · compromise agreements to be simplified (possibly good) · consultation on 'protected conversations' between employers and staff about employment issues without risk of dispute (your employer could bully you out of your job legally without protection)· consultation on rapid resolution scheme as alternative to tribunal for low-value and straightforward disputes (Fixed penalty ticket justice?)

· Acas Disciplinary and Grievance Code to be 'looked at' with a view to a simpler dismissal process (nuf said?)

Do not expect the "law" to protect you at work. Time to join a union for collective protection and the Labour Party to get rid of this Government in 2015.

Industrial Injuries Appeal - a small win can be a big deal

I posted here just over a year ago about helping out a member at an industrial injuries tribunal hearing. At that hearing they won the appeal but did not get any benefit since the tribunal deemed that their current disability was less than 14% (its a long story) which means you get nothing.

I would normally encourage a member to take advice from specialist welfare rights advisers such as Law centres or Citizen Advice. Many years ago I worked as an advisor but am now “out of date”. But (its a long story) the member did not want to seek advice from anyone else as they did not want to discuss their accident and the impact on their health with anyone else.

We had to appeal on a point of law only - so we tried to argue that the decision was perverse since it was plainly unreasonable and did not fit the facts. This was turned down by a Commissioner (Judge) who said it was not a point of law. We argued that it was a point of law. Another Commissioner reviewed this argument and agreed with the previous decision that it was not a point of law but found that the appeal tribunal had indeed “erred” in law by not explaining its decision properly and ordered a fresh tribunal appeal(hmmm - no comment).

At this rehearing the appeal was again allowed but this time the disability was assessed at 20% not 14% which meant they were eligible for benefit and it was awarded for life. So after almost 20 years finally justice is done (I told you it was a long story). The member will only receive about £28 per week (tax free but nearly £3,000 in back payment) but was really, really pleased to be getting some compensation for the decades of pain and suffering caused by a horrible accident at work.

In the trade union movement we need to wake up to industrial injury benefits. Why did it take over 15 years after returning to work for the member to realise they could claim? I suspect that every large UNISON branch in local government and health have manuel members redeployed or on permanent light duties due to industrial injuries who could be eligible for benefits. Mental health injuries caused by work is another less obvious area to think about. I will see what we can do at region but I think that all union reps ought to seriously think about whether they have members who should apply. I think most of you will have at least one.

UPDATE: in conversation this morning with Disability rights Guru, Montrose Matty, he reminded me that sufferers from work related Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) may also be eligible.

GMB lose Allen Case

Bad news for the GMB and maybe the other public service unions. The Court of Appeal has handed down its very important judgment on this controversal case.

An Employment tribunal (ET) in Middlesbrough in 2006 found that the GMB had indirectly discriminated against union members by recommending a pay deal which did not offer adequate compensation to female members for past unequal pay. The Union was found to have had a legitimate aim of securing a fair deal for all but since they did not pursue the back pay meant that they had not been “proportionate”.

The Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) in 2007 found in favour of the union. Today the Court of Appeal overturned the EAT.

Permission to appeal the House of Lords has been refused. Although I understand that you can appeal direct to the Lords.

There is a 16 page written judgement here.

Employment lawyer Daniel Barnett (e-bulletin) reckons that there are 4,000 claims against the GMB and 7,000 against UNISON. He calls it “A very bad day for unions....”