The Government’s current timetable for implementing changes to the way workplace disputes are handled has been revealed in a written Parliamentary answer last week. We all know that the unfair dismissal qualifying period will increase to two years in April, but the timetable for the other planned changes had been unclear.
We now know that there will be some immediate changes to the way tribunals are run from April. Employment judges will be able to sit alone when hearing unfair dismissal claims and witnesses will no longer be paid their expenses by the Tribunals Service. There will also be changes to the limits for costs awards and deposit orders. However the planned radical overhaul of the employment tribunal rules of procedure will not happen until 2013.
There are plenty of other changes in the pipeline which require primary legislation (see for example our posting here). These include plans to enhance the role of ACAS and introduce financial penalties on employers. No precise timetable has been announced for these changes: they will be introduced “when parliamentary time allows”.