One cannot help noticing that the Ministry of Justice is keeping busy organising (amongst other things) the introduction of the new personal injury protocol for workplace and public liability claims, which must now be channeled through what was previously the electronic portal for road accidents. They are coming under much criticism for not having published the rules due to come into effect on 31 July.
Similarly one cannot turn on the news without noticing that Unison is keeping busy trying to decide how much it should contribute towards the Labour party by way of annual levy and considering whether to change links with the Labour Party going back 100 years.
They both seem to have found time however to engage in a High Court battle over whether the Employment Tribunal fees due to be introduced on the 29th July are lawful.
Unison argues that the high level of fees prevents proper access to European Community employment rights and that it is discriminatory because women (who are generally paid less) are less able to meet the fees than men. In addition they point out that most of the other UK first level Tribunals do not have a fee.
The argument that the new fees present a barrier to justice appears attractive. The need to pay a substantial fee just when claimants can least afford it, must inevitably prevent some claims being made, and the problem the government has is that this is their stated intention!
On the other hand, most people will scrape together at least £250 if they know that they have an entitlement to a much higher sum. Whether the same is true for the much more substantial hearing fee of up to £950 remain to be seen, but the availability of the FeeSafe policy and hearing fee loan may be relevant to the legal argument!
Sadly the general consensus is that the Unison challenge is probably unlikely to succeed, but the political point will have been made!
Simon Pinner spent 15 years handling a large variety of Employment Tribunal claims – the largest involving 150 claimants each seeking 6 years underpayment of shift-work wages! Together with his fellow director Daniel Morris he headed a personal injury department of 85 staff and more recently he and Daniel have directed Box Legal to its current substantial share of the ATE market with well over 250 solicitor firms on the “ClaimSafe” panel.