Archive for the ‘Government Publications’ Category
By Jenny - Thursday, June 26th, 2008
The Ministry of Justice has recently announced that there will be a research based review of ‘no win no fee’ funding arrangements which are used in personal injury claims, employment claims and defamation claims. Justice Minister Bridget Prentice said ‘No win no fee arrangements are vital in helping to give the public a voice in courts. However, we are aware of growing concerns that they may not always be operating in the interest of access to justice.’
Solicitors are currently able to take on Employment Tribunal work on a contingency fee agreement basis (a type of no win no fee). This means that if the Claimant is successful at Tribunal the solicitor will take a percentage of any award they receive. The percentage will vary according to the agreement made between the solicitor and the Claimant. If the Claimant is unsuccessful the solicitor doesn’t get paid. The Respondent will pay for his own legal costs (save for in exceptional circumstances). ‘No win no fee’ arrangements currently provide access to justice for those who cannot afford to pursue litigation paying on a private basis.
We will have to see what the results say (which are due in the Autumn) but I think most people would agree that the removal of contingency fee funding arrangements for employment claims will make it much more difficult for employees to bring claims to the Tribunal. Paying on a private basis simply isn’t an option for a lot of Claimants.
Posted in Government Publications | No comments »
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By Liam - Wednesday, November 7th, 2007
The Queen made her annual speech yesterday, marking the opening of the new Parliamentary Session.
The Speech gives us some hints as to legislative changes that may be made in the near future and that may have implications in the workplace.
The key areas for change include:
- A reform of the law regarding apprenticeships
- Bringing forward proposals to help staff achieve work/life balance
- Imposing a duty on employers to contribute to a good quality workplace pension for employees
The speech does not give any more detail than the above.Watch this Blog for further updates! You can receive updates from this Blog via RSS feed by clicking on the RSS feed button below.
The full speech can be found here.
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By Sarah - Tuesday, August 14th, 2007
Today I was musing hypothetically over one of those ‘What If…?’ scenarios and applied to the formula the ‘What if the Tories came into power and removed the Red Tape?’
The answer? Employers would be affected as the balance between them and their employees swings towards favouring those running the show; less rules regarding redundancy procedure would mean they could get rid of staff more easily, employees would be the ones to lose out with Britain opting out of the EU Social Charter and changes being implemented in those well-known (and dreaded?) Health and Safety Regulations.
The idea behind all this chopping and cutting is there being a reduction in costs by an estimated £14bn, termed by Redwood who came up with the idea as a ‘tax cut by any other name’, termed by the Labour Party who oppose it ‘giving up any claim to be a credible party of the centre ground.’
Now the real things to ponder over: are the Conservative Party right or centre? blue or green? or red for that matter? What if…
Posted in Government Publications, Health and Safety | 4 comments »
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By Liam - Wednesday, July 18th, 2007
The Government has now published its draft legislative programme (see chapter 5) which outlines new statutes that are likely to be put before parliament in the near future. Fans of the Statutory Grievance Procedure and Statutory Dismissal Procedure will be disappointed as these are likely to be repealed. The draft programme does not say with what they will be replaced, but this has been the subject of consultation which closed in June (http://www.dti.gov.uk/consultations/page38508.html) so the outcome of the consultation should be published soon.
There will also be some changes to the enforcement regime for the National Minimum Wage and for the Regulation of Employment Agencies.
Posted in Government Publications, Miscellaneous, National Minimum Wage, Statutory Procedures | 1 comment »
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By Philip - Monday, November 13th, 2006
Someone down at the DTI has had the very bright idea of putting down in one document, employees’ rights and responsibilities. Not only is the document comprehensive, it is also written in an easy to understand way. The document is here Download rights_and_responsibilities.pdf Enjoy!
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