The Guardian’s article “Access to justice is no longer a
worker’s right but a luxury” provides an illustration of the difficulties faced
by one individual who faced discrimination at work.
On the face of it the lady concerned did not appear to be
very well off but she was unable to obtain help with employment tribunal fees
and in the event relied on her trade union together with crowd-funding to cover
her legal costs and the tribunal fees. Her
case was settled and she was spared attending a hearing.
We have blogged about the introduction of employment
tribunal fees from time to time and this story serves as a reminder of the need
for legal protection for individuals. BTE is more valuable than ever since the
introduction of fees.
Following its review of employment tribunal fees the
Government has confirmed that they have no intention of reducing the level of
fees payable (£1200 for most claims that result in a hearing).
The story, however, does not paint the full picture. It gives the impression that employment
tribunal cases are scarce as fees deter individuals from pursuing their rights.
While it’s true that claims against businesses have dropped since the
introduction of fees the latest quarterly statistics – Q4 2016, show a 3%
increase in the number of single tribunal applications received over the same
quarter in 2015.
More importantly around 92,000 notifications of disputes
were received by ACAS’s early resolution service in the year to March 2016. The early conciliation service is free to both
employers and employees and ARAG provides legal representation throughout the
process for our commercial and family policyholders. Parties are successful in arriving at an
agreement through ACAS Early Conciliation in around one-third of cases and can
avoid their claim escalating to tribunal.
