Employment Tribunals hear claims for unlawful treatment by an employer in order to makes decisions regarding employment law. Some examples of this include unfair dismissal, discrimination and unfair deductions from pay[1].
Some of the issues with employment tribunals is the excessive backlog totalling to over a year that has built up, the lack of digitisation and finally the lack of power available to other members in the tribunal. To combat these issues and improve the Employment Tribunal, there has been a recent change to the document governing them that will affect the system in 2025.
Firstly, the changes allow other staff within the Employment Tribunal to make decisions on a wider range of cases than they could previously. This means that they can manage the Judicial element of the less complex cases and make decisions which save both Tribunal and Party time from waiting for a hearing or Judge’s availability.
Another majorly helpful change is that a series of minor drafting amendments have been made all throughout the document with the view of remedying exiting ambiguities. This allows individuals a better chance at dealing with matters or the preliminary parts of matters on their own as the original tribunal was intended for and so reducing the cost to individuals for legal representation and support in cases.
As well as this, the Tribunal has been given increased flexibility for digitisation such as remote hearings. This will allow the Tribunal to fit in and get through more hearings at a quicker rate. These changes also collectively help the tribunal get through the backlog and schedule new hearings at an earlier date then previously possible.
The document has moved many provisions around which has led to fears for those advocating that they will give incorrect references. However, the Tribunal have assured that they are not going to hold this against Parties as they understand it will take time for people to become familiar with the new layout.
Overall, the day-to-day rules within the Tribunal have not changed. The changes instead, have bought in new attempts to open the Tribunal and help it solve cases quicker and more efficiently.
There are potentially further changes aimed at improving to come, so look out for further updates.
Summerfield Browne can help you with your employment matters, please do not hesitate to reach out to us for assistance or advise.
