Further UK Employment Reforms

A second reading of The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill took place in Parliament on 11 June 2012. Although the legislation has not yet come into force, it anticipates a number of important changes including:

• Mandatory pre-claim ACAS conciliation procedures.  

• A reduction to the upper limit of the compensatory award for unfair dismissal claims, depending on the employee's annual earnings.

• Tribunal Judges will hear a larger number of cases sitting alone.

•  Respondents may face additional financial penalties for losing Tribunal proceedings.

•  Compromise agreements will be renamed ‘settlement agreements' and may be standardised.

These are all measures which are part of the Government's continued efforts to reduce employment litigation - by discouraging employees from bringing spurious claims and by encouraging employers to settle stronger claims.  We will continue to report on these measures as they develop and eventually become law.