Employer news

9 May 2008

Code proposal offers support to workshop managers during staff disputes

A DRAFT code of practice aimed at simplifying employee discipline and grievance procedures has been welcomed by the Forum of Private Business (FPB).

If approved, the new government code would come into force from April next year, when current statutory procedures are abolished.

The revised code of practice follows £37 million in government funding that has been ploughed into a helpline and advice service to simplify the procedure for resolving staff disputes. It aims to save businesses over £175 million a year.

Research carried out in 2007 by the Employment Tribunal Service (ETS) showed that the number of tribunal claims increased sharply in 2007.

"Over the past year, the FPB’s members have experienced increasing problems with employment tribunal claims and threats of being taken to tribunals," said Philip Moody, a senior member of the FPB.

"Many business owners struggle to balance running their businesses with the correct implementation of employment rules and regulations."

A recent survey revealed that, last year, there were a total of 132,577 employment tribunal claims – a leap of more than 15% from 2006.

The biggest increases came with equal pay claims, which, with 44,013 claims, rose by a massive 154.9%. Sex discrimination cases virtually doubled from 14,250 claims in 2006 to 28,153 in 2007.

It also showed that employees were successful in 32% of equal pay claims, and also 27% of race discrimination claims. Total unfair dismissal claims also went up.

A revised version of the FPB’s employment guide is available now. The guide comes with a CD-ROM of letter templates, contracts of employment and other documents to help employers deal with staffing issues correctly.

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