Fight
against tribunal fees goes on
The long-awaited government review of
the introduction of employment tribunal fees has finally been published by the
Ministry of Justice.
The review finds that: “While there is
clear evidence that ET fees have discouraged people from bringing claims, there
is no conclusive evidence that they have been prevented from doing so.”
Public services union UNISON is taking
the fight against the introduction of fees through the courts and its case is
due to be heard in the highest court in the land — the Supreme Court — at the
end of March.
UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis
said: “The introduction of fees was a terrible decision. The Lord Chancellor
should be big enough now to accept her department got this one badly wrong.
“Tribunal fees should be scrapped
immediately, before any more law-breaking employers escape punishment because
wronged workers simply don’t have the cash to take them to court.
“Unfortunately it’s now much harder
for people who’ve been treated unfairly at work to seek justice. Women have
been the biggest losers, bad bosses the undoubted winners.
The review’s findings were also slated
by the Law Society, the representative body for solicitors in England and
Wales.
Law Society president Robert Bourns
said: “The minister asserts there is ‘no evidence to suggest’ the fees are
limiting access to justice — but the evidence in his own report suggests that
tens of thousands of people are slipping through the cracks.
“The truth is employment tribunal fees
have had a chilling effect on the number of people able or willing to bring a
case against their employer.
