Tuesday 20 December 2011

Employment tribunals – an update

With cost-cutting high on the Government agenda another set of measures to reduce taxpayer costs have been tabled in the latest consultation on employment tribunals - Charging Fees in Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

Currently costing around £84 million a year the consultation aims to lower this amount by proposing that those who use the “system make a financial contribution”. Two options are laid out in the consultation:
  • Option 1: an initial fee of between £150-£250 for a claimant to begin a claim, with an additional fee of between £250-£1250 if the claim goes to a hearing, with no limit to the maximum award; or
  • Option 2: a single fee of between £200-£600 – but this would limit the maximum award to £30,000 – with the option of an additional fee of £1,750 for those who seek awards above this amount
There are a number of benefits listed in the press release issued by the Ministry of Justice on 14 December, including:
  • Access to justice for those on low incomes or limited means will be protected by fee waivers
  • Discourage unmeritorious claims
  • Encourage early settlement of claims
  • Small businesses will be encouraged to recruit new staff without the fear of unnecessary actions
  • Incentivise complainants to choose conciliation or mediation
  • Reduce taxpayers costs
On the other hand, an article in the Law Society Gazette has comments from Victoria Phillips, head of employment rights at national firm Thompsons, who is concerned that “fees at any level will make it more difficult to pursue a claim against an employer.”

With the number of employment tribunals increasing every year and money spent by both parties unnecessarily on applications that often do not reach a full hearing, how well will these proposals tackle the problems going forward and who else will be affected by the changes? Your comments are of course very welcome.

Friday 9 December 2011

Matrimonial bliss or matrimonial miss!

The latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics show that the number of divorces in England and Wales is unfortunately on the rise, with an increase of 4.9% from 2009 to 2010.

In real terms the figures have risen from 113,949 divorces in 2009 to 119,589 in 2010, this is equivalent to 11.1 divorcing people per thousand married population.

Alongside this dissolutions of civil partnerships are also increasing with provisional total of 509 in the UK in 2010, an increase of 44% from 2009.

The average age for couples to divorce is between 40 to 44 years old. The 2010 trend also shows that women are more likely to divorce at younger ages and men when they get older. With regards to the average duration of marriages in 2010 the statistics show that it remained steady at 11.4 years.

While no-one planning to get married or enter into a civil partnership wishes to think that things may not work out, nuptial agreements are becoming a popular way for individuals to protect their property and assets if the relationship does break down.

ARAG is now selling two new divorce insurance products – Pre-nuptial Legal Solutions and Divorce Legal Solutions – that are sold alongside nuptial agreements. These products provide a legal expenses insurance policy that starts from the date of a marriage or civil partnership and protects the policyholder against legal costs associated with matrimonial breakdown.

Both policies cover costs arising from a legal challenge to the nuptial agreement whilst Divorce Legal Solutions extends cover to include the cost of divorce proceedings.

Find out more about Pre-nuptial Legal Solutions and Divorce Legal Solutions from the ARAG website.