Over the last few years, there have been a number of key changes in employment tribunal (ET) procedure. The most notable of these have, without doubt, been the introduction of ET fees (2013) and the mandatory Acas early-conciliation process (2014).
More change is afoot - ET decisions (note: only new judgments) will be published on an online database from early this year, and there is current consultation about further changes re digitising the process further and delegating routine tasks from judges to caseworkers.
Currently, anyone wanting to search or browse ET decisions must travel to Bury St Edmunds to view English and Welsh decisions. You can also order copies of specific decisions by post on payment of a fee. Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decisions and Court of Appeal decisions on employment law are already available online, so the ETs are behind on this.
Of course, it remains to be seen if or when any changes to the current tribunal fee structure may happen following the Court of Appeal case set for March (Unison v Lord Chancellor) and the long-awaited government review on fees.
Comment: The aim of publishing ET decisions online is driven by greater access to justice, as allowing people to see how ETs have decided previous cases may assist parties in bringing or defending claims. In addition, it may encourage parties to settle their disputes, rather than face potential bad publicity.
If you face a claim from a disgruntled employee which is decided at a Tribunal hearing after the online database has been introduced, the public will easily be able to find out the outcome by simply searching the database, so this change may impact on employers claims defence strategy in the future. Of course, the thing to do is avoid any costly and unnecessary claims in the first place by managing your people fairly and reasonably!
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