Statutory Dispute Resolution – where next?
February 29, 2008
According to new research by employment firm Peninsula, many employers are afraid to discipline staff for fear of being taken to an employment tribunal. Peninsula surveyed 1,100 employers and found that nine in ten respondents would still discipline an employee if they were “legally confident”, however, eight in ten also said they were in fear of rising employment tribunal cases due to an increase in employee rights. It is certainly true for me – having studied employment law I’m fairly confident in the regulations relating to discipline, but I still always seek additional advice when handling disciplinary issues because the thought of being taken to a tribunal is completely mortifying.
Since the Statutory Dispute Resolution Procedures were introduced in 2004, there has been a rise in the number of employment tribunal cases by more than 15,000 between 2005-06 and 2007, despite the intention being to reduce the number. The regulations (which also relate to handling grievances) have been criticised by employers and employees as they have created confusion over the complexity of the requirements. The rules were set out to try to force employers to deal with disputes within the workplace before they reached tribunal, however due to the fact that employers can be penalised for not following the specific procedures (even when it is clear that the outcome is the right one), there have been many cases involving the process rather than the problem.
The Gibbons Report, an independent Government backed review of the Statutory Dispute Resolution Procedures, was published in March 2007. The overall conclusion of this review was that the procedures should be repealed completely and a new approach taken. This includes proposals to change the way employers handle dispute resolution, as well as changing the way tribunals handle claims in order to deter claimants and encourage the use of mediation before it reaches this stage. The Government has published new legislation (The Employment Simplification Bill) in response to the Gibbons Review which is currently in the draft stage. Until this legislation is implemented however, employers will need to follow the current regulations when dealing with discipline and grievance issues.
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