date: Friday 30 April embargo: 00:01hrs Tuesday 4 May 2004

Attention: industrial and legal correspondents

non-union members to suffer under work tribunal reforms

Trade unions continue to lead the trend in reducing employment tribunals claims by solving more problems in the workplace. But the TUC is concerned that non-union members will suffer under government reforms designed to cut tribunal applications.

The 2004 Trade Union Trends ‘Focus on Employment Tribunals’ survey out today (Tuesday) shows that union-backed claims have been reduced by a further 41 per cent in the past year compared with only a 12 per cent fall in all tribunals.

Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary, said:

'Trade unions continue to use a strategy of blazing a trail for new employment rights through landmark tribunal wins and then embedding these rights in the workplace through their strong bargaining position.

'Unions are more likely to solve a problem without resorting to litigation but, if it ends up at a tribunal, trade union members are more likely to win and are likely to win more compensation.

'Tribunals are working well for union members but there is genuine concern that changes to the system aimed at cutting the numbers of tribunals will further disadvantage non-union members.'

Unions won or settled nine out of ten of the 2,619 tribunal applications recorded in the survey, and won four of five cases that went all the way to a hearing, compared with a 13 per cent average for all tribunals. And unions won an estimated £16.2 million in compensation for their members - in unfair dismissal cases, which still account for over 40 per cent of all claims, compensation to union members was three times higher than the average award.

Union members also benefit from the fact that unions are not deterred from bringing claims by threats from employers of costs awards of up to £10,000. Despite an increase in these threats reported in the TUC survey, three-quarters of unions said the possibility of cost awards did not affect their decision to bring a claim.

Unions fear that government plans to cut tribunal numbers by an arbitrary 30,000 (from 98,617) will create barriers to the system that will make it very difficult for non-union members who cannot afford legal advice to bring tribunals. The TUC is particularly concerned that the complicated new pre-acceptance stage, currently being considered by the government, could lead to well-founded tribunal claims being rejected without a full hearing due to minor or technical faults.

The TUC is also concerned that the complexity of new statutory grievance and disciplinary procedures combined with the pre-acceptance stage, both due to come into effect in October 2004, will increase tribunal workloads and deter applications from workers without union backing or legal support. Nine out of ten unions already state that they only submit a tribunal application on the advice of a lawyer, an 11 per cent increase on last year.

Tribunals numbers are already falling, but rather than forcing the trend by making the system more legalistic and complex, the TUC believes the government should concentrate on the new right for employees to be informed and consulted on workplace issues, which come into force next year. This would be a mechanism to start solving problems without litigation, just as unions do.

Unions also continue to use their unique position to win substantial settlements and compensation for members through multiple claims on an issue. Last year KFAT, the textile workers union, won £300,000 for 140 employees due to a failure to consult over redundancies.

Notes to Editors:

- ‘Focus on Employment Tribunals ’, the second 2004 report from the Trade Union Trends series compiled by the Labour research Department for the TUC, analyses Employment Tribunal cases between November 2002 - October 2003 where trade unions have represented their members. Thirty-one unions participated in the survey, representing more than 5.5 million members - 83 per cent of membership of the TUC’s affiliated unions. Media copies are available from the TUC press office pre-embargo, copies are available post-embargo from TUC publications.

- The government is currently consulting on introducing a pre-acceptance stage to Employment Tribunal Procedures, in October 2004, which will give the Tribunal Chairman the power to throw out claims without a hearing on a number of complicated legal grounds.

- From October 2005, employees will be required to use new, complicated tribunal application forms, which the government are currently consulting on. Failure to use the right form will mean a claim will be rejected at the pre-acceptance stage.

- Tribunal chairs must also reject claims where an employee has not written to their employer about a grievance before filing their claim. While keeping a paper trail of any claim is good practice, this is a new requirement and many employees will not be aware of it. It is likely to create particular difficulties for disabled employees, those with literacy problems and non-union members who lack access to good advice. Applicants will be able to ‘perfect’ faulty forms but are unlikely to be able to do so within strict new time limits.

- From October 2004 employers will be obliged to provide at least minimum procedures to deal with disciplinary issues, dismissals and grievances in the workplace (Employment Act 2002). There are a number of confusing overlaps between the grievance and disciplinary procedures and the exemptions from the use of the procedures are unclear and confusing.

- Trade union negotiated procedures which will offer provide better safeguards for employees are not undermined by the new basic requirements.

Contacts:

Media enquiries: Ben Hurley 020 7467 1248 or 07626 317903 (pager) or email bhurley@tuc.org.uk

Press release (1,000 words) issued 4 May 2004