New Employment Rights Bill - Gruelling News for SMEs?

A raft of Employment reforms are to be introduced by the new Labour Government including rights from day one. This will mean that employees with short service will be able to make a claim in an Employment Tribunal. There are currently 410,000 open cases [March 24]. Cases are typically taking 18-Months to be heard before an Employment Judge in a full hearing and administration at the processing office in Watford is woeful. Rights from day one is bound to result in an increase in claims. As William Gladstone famously said, "Justice delayed is justice denied". 

A consultation on the introduction of Employment Tribunal Fees and Employment Appeal Tribunal Fees recommended that a small fee of £55 be introduced.  This would not be a significant deterrent, but a 10% deposit, as required by the Small Claims Court would make disaffected employees think twice about taking a chance on a making a claim which could result in a lump sum and even if not successful would inconvenience their former employer. Previously the introduction of fees [in 2013] was found to be unlawful [Supreme Court in R[Unison] v The Lord Chancellor [2017]] but this decision must be revisited for smaller employers to survive.