The employment tribunal process encourages opportunists while doing nothing to tackle workplace abuse, radio presenter Libby Purves wrote in The Times last week (14 April).

In an article titled ‘Employment law isn’t working for anyone’, Purves suggested that employees take advantage of the tribunal system, and that rising claims for age discrimination are “not unconnected to the fact that compensation in this area is uncapped”.

She recommended that the government improve the “intricacies and ambiguities” of employment law, and “beef up Acas”.

In 2021 the Ministry of Justice reported that employment tribunal claims were at their highest. By December 2023 though, tribunal claims had returned to pre-Covid-19-pandemic levels.

Earlier this year, the government proposed plans to introduce a fee for tribunal claims, aiming to encourage employers and employees to reach an agreement earlier.

Purves’ article noted that the tribunal process “increases wariness in employers and in their employees [and] provides a dangerous incentive to claim mental illness and future inability to work”.

Amanda Glover, associate employment solicitor at Clarkslegal, told HR magazine that this wariness was not due to employment law.

She said: “I am not convinced it is employment law per se that is making employers and employees more wary of one another.”

Read the full article: HR Magazine

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Glover noted that employers could prevent conflict by having an understanding of employment law.