Employment tribunals

Businesses fear cost of rise in claims to tribunals

Business is increasingly concerned at the rise in individual claims made by workers to employment tribunals , according to Adair Turner, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry. 

There has been a 30 per cent increase in such claims - the vast majority are concerned with unfair dismissal, payment of wages and breaches of contract - in the past year against 114,000 in 1998. 

Mr. Turner [yesterday] told the 25th anniversary conference of the independent Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service that if allowed to continue unchecked it would prove a "costly diversion from the real business of improving employee relations." There were several reasons, Mr. Turner said, behind the rising number of individual employment cases. He blamed the creation of "more defined individual rights in the workforce." This was not a problem when it struck a sensible balance between the rights and responsibilities, but it was when combined with "other factors at work". 

And the more individual and performance-related style of workplace relations could fail to develop employee loyalty and commitment if badly implemented. 

Mr. Turner noted the development of a "wider cultural shift towards a more litigious compensation culture with people having a go to see what they can get". 

He added: "Often the cases are justified and that's fine, but what should worry us is the increasing numbers that are not.

"Where individuals are just out to see if they can get some damages and bring forward unjustified, unfair and vexatious claims - this imposes a significant burden on business and is also simply unjust."

Mt Turner said companies would have to redouble their efforts to ensure "real employee involvement and motivation" to offset any litigation, but also suggested the government might consider changes to employment tribunal procedures designed to discourage "clearly unjustified claims". 

He suggested Acas was "extremely well placed to help avoid these dangers" through its conciliatory work.

"Financial Times"