The Fairness of Employment Tribunal in Making Decisions - Coursework Example

Employment Tribunals Lecturer Introduction Tribunal refers to individuals or s that have been bestowed powers to settle disagreements between different parties. They are established and operated under the Ministry of Justice. There are different tribunals, each with power to handle rows relating to specific area of legal system. Tribunals are composed of experienced judges and other non-legal components but with knowledge about the area under discussion (Wolfe, 2004.134). They are established to handle issues outside normal court procedure to provide faster mechanism of establishing justice among the conflicting parties (Cunningham and Reed, 2012). They use a process which does not involve many formalities compared to court processes, thus ensuring a friendlier environment of solving conflicts. An example is employment tribunal which handles conflicts between employers and the workers. In United Kingdom, the employment tribunals deal with a wide range of conflicts including unlawful termination of the workers by employers. They also handle issues of unlawful layoff and unfair treatment of the workers by their employers (David and Francis, 2004, 629). This study will examine circumstance under which it is necessary for parties to settle issues through the tribunals instead of the normal court procedure. It also examines the procedure involved in settling conflicts through the tribunal and the award granted by the tribunal (Wolfe, 2004.134). This will include composition of the tribunal, experience and autonomy of the entire system in settling conflicts. The aim of this study is to find out the fairness of employment tribunal in making decisions between the employers and their workers. Cases Handled by Employment Tribunals a) Unfair Termination of Workers According to the employment acts, an employer cannot terminate the workers from their duties without following a proper legal procedure (HM Courts & Tribunals Service, 2012, p.8). Therefore, before workers can be dismissed from their job by an employer, there is a definite legal procedure for the employers to terminate their employees which involves issuance of a notice with a reason for termination from their jobs (Wolfe, 2004.174). However, if workers feel that they have been treated unfairly by their employers, they can file a legal case against the employers in the employment tribunal. The ill-treated employees should try to find solution of the matter with the employer first before taking further action (David, and Francis, 2004, 104). However, if they are unable to come to an accord, the workers will have to seek for help from legal advisors. These will help them to decide the direction in which the case may take so as to get adequate compensation from their employers. They will help them to determine the amount of compensation they may get in case they win against their employers. Some cases may be too remote to take to the court or to the employment tribunal (HM Courts & Tribunals Service, 2012, p.2). In this case, the parties will seek intervention of mediators who should help them strike and agreement cost effectively. b). Unfairness Sometimes the employers show favouritism against their employees based on various reasons. Some of the reasons may include gender, denomination, economic or political background or physical disability (Wolfe, 2004.104). Also, ladies are sometimes denied their right to maternity leave or are inadequately remunerated during their pregnancies on the base of poor performance. This may also occur during hiring of employees, upgrading of workers or even during layoffs, where some people are treated unfairly. Also, prejudice at work may include harassment of the workers by their employers (David and Francis, 2004, 636). Under such circumstances, the employees can present a claim to the employment tribunals against their employers and claim for compensation against their employers. However, the worker should first seek help from the legal human representatives who will decide whether the victim should launch a case against the employer with the employment tribunal or what action they should take (David and Francis, 2004, 103). The victims should give details of what happened and the reason why they believe the employers action amounted to segregation. They should also be able to explain the effect this segregation had on their performance and their dignity. They have to specify whether the event occurred once or whether the employer has been doing it repeatedly. In case it was a onetime occurrence, they should be able to give details of the event and the date in which this occurred (HM Courts & Tribunals Service. 2012, p.4). c). Layoffs Workers’ Layoff can be caused by several factors. The most common is where the change of policy in the organization results to inability of the workers to perform their duties as usual hence loss of income (Wolfe, 2004.187). In this case, they can make claims against the employers in order to be remunerated for their lost income. They will be required to explain whether they asked for remuneration from the employer and what his or her reply was. They should furnish the employment tribunal with details regarding the period of this occurrence as well as the reply of employer (Kohl, 2012.178). Before workers present the case to the tribunal, they should first report to the “Redundancy Payment Office (RPO)” and request for remuneration. This is a government department which compensates the workers from public finds in case employers refuse to pay their dues (HM Courts & Tribunals Service, 2012, p.9). In case the workers present the case to the RPO and it is discarded, they are issued with a rejection form which indicates the reason and date of decline (David and Francis, 2004, 103). The workers are required to provide details regarding other benefits which were supposed to have been issued and have not been cleared. They should also state the total amount they are claiming and reason why they believe they are entitled to such benefits. The claimant should give rules that protect him or her against such occurrences (HM Courts & Tribunals Service, 2012, p.10). The claimants should also give an explanation of compensation they expect from the employer in case the tribunal rules in his or her favour. c). Disability This is a form of discrimination where by employers fails to provide facilities that will improve performances of the workers with physical challenges (Wolfe, 2004.186). They can also present their claims against their employers in the employment tribunal. They should state to the tribunal the kind of facilities they would like to be provided with in order to improve their efficiency. Employment Tribunal Precedent In case the workers have to involve tribunal to resolve the issues with their employers, they should fill claim form and send it to the employment tribunal within three months after firing or after the issue arose in case of inequity (HM Courts & Tribunals Service, 2012, p.11). The workers will have to furnish the tribunal with all details relating to the matter and the details of employer. This will include the date of dismissal or occurrence of the matter, description of what caused the conflicts, and the legal clause that protects the employer (Huff and Killias, 2008. P.256). The employers will give details regarding their terms of employment such as the duration they have worked for the employer, their physical address, remunerations they enjoyed from employers and the reason why they were entitled to such remunerations. The workers will furnish the tribunal with this information in a written form, together with the account of the witnesses to the issue (David and Francis, 2004, 99). Once the workers file the case with the tribunal, they are referred to as claimant and the employer against whom the case has been filed is referred to as respondent. After the respondents have received the application form from the claimant, they will serve the respondent with the claimant information within twenty eight days (David and Francis, 2004, p.98). The respondent is required to fill the response form and return to the tribunal which will be forwarded to the claimant or claimant’s agent. In the response form, the respondent will be required to give information relating to his position about the employees claim and other causes of the problems leading to that situation. Before the case is handled by “Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS)” who will try to help the conflicting parties to reach an agreement first (HM Courts & Tribunals Service, 2012, P.7). Before the sitting of the tribunal, they will have to go through the records presented by both parties to decide the direction they will follow. On the day of hearing, tribunal bench will involve three personnel (Huff and Killias, 2008.p.167). The chairperson is usually a judge from the employment tribunal while the other two individuals will be the agents of the conflicting parties who are not necessarily versed with legal matters. These parties sit in a platform to create a real court environment. The employment tribunal commence the trial by giving both parties and their supporters priorities to inform the public of what they know regarding the issue at hand (HM Courts & Tribunals Service, 2012, p.11). This is done shortly because all the concerned parties already have full details from both parties and the witnesses. The claimant’s witnesses are given second priority to provide the details of the case at hand (Huff and Killias, 2008.p265). Finally, the respondent and his or her witnesses are given priority to give their views about the issue. Afterwards, substantiation of the evidence from both sides is done by the claimants or their representatives. Normally this process will take around three hours. During confessions by either parties, the tribunal may seek for clarification of some issues if need be (Wolfe, 2004.224). Afterwards, both parties are given a chance to give their views on the issue before the tribunal takes a break. Having obtained enough evidence from both parties, the tribunal will take a short leave during which they will make a conclusion. The case may take up to twenty four weeks since the day it was presented to the employment tribunal until the day the tribunal makes a decision of whether the case is valid or invalid (HM Courts & Tribunals Service, 2012, p.8). In making a decision of the award, the tribunal will have to make a choice based on the nature of the claim of claimant against the employer, the age of the claimant and the income of the claimant and other emotional factors such as the psychological effect the case has on the claimant. Although the tribunal will make decision based on the previous decisions made under similar circumstances, each case will differ from each other because they determining factors are different and dependent on each case (HM Courts & Tribunals Service, 2012. P.7). However, on average the award for the claimant in relation unfair dismissal is around five thousand Euros. Under some conditions, the claimants and the respondents may be required to pay for the case if tribunal and the employment judges feel that the protocol of the case was no well adhered to (HM Courts & Tribunals Service, 2012. P.11). the tribunal may also require the payment to be made to the witnesses of the case. The claimants should give the reasons of the circumstances which they think led to their dismissal if this is different from the one given by the respondent (HM Courts & Tribunals Service, 2012. P.8). the workers should describe the circumstances which led to the dismissal including the day, time and people who were involved in the process. Once the claim has been presented to the tribunal, it will take around three days to verify the issue and agree or disagree with the allegations (HM Courts & Tribunals Service, 2012, p.12). In case they reject the claimants’ allegations against the respondent, then the tribunal will not continue with its hearing. However, if they accept to handle the issues, they will inform the claimant and the respondent and the hearing will start immediately. This procedure will take around seven months (David and Francis, 2004, 634). The process will involve summoning the employer to respond to the claim laid against him or her by the workers. If the employer fails to respond to the allegations of the workers, the tribunal will discard the case and decide the issue without the respondent. If the respondent agrees to respond to the allegations, the legal process will start without delay (HM Courts & Tribunals Service, 2012, p.9). This process may take less than two months, during which all the parties will provide facts of the case and all the witnesses will be required to present their observations (Huff and Killias, 2008.p.124). Within the following one month, the tribunal will take time to analyze the evidence provided and deliver the ruling. They will decide whether the employer has to compensate the claimant or whether the case should be discarded. Discussion and Conclusion The tribunal exercised justice in both cases because they first assessed the circumstances which resulted to conflicts between employers and the workers. Also, in both cases the both parties were given adequate opportunities to give their views regarding the situation before the tribunals ruling (HM Courts & Tribunals Service, 2012, p.5). The claimants were also required to provide full details regarding the legal right that pertains to their situations. The claimants specified the period they were working and income they were getting from their employers (Kohl, 2012. 234). The workers also specified positions they were holding in their jobs as well as salaries and other benefits they enjoyed in the organizations (John, 2012). They also indicated the number of hours they worked for their employers on a weekly basis and other allowances they were getting from the company. Finally the claimants were also required to give other personal details such as whether they were able to get job from other organizations after dismissal, and the time when they started or when they will start their new jobs. During their ruling, the tribunal will have to make decision regarding awards to be given to the claimant (David and Francis, 2004, 628). In many cases, workers are not required to reimburse their employers anything after they lose the case. This is because, in most cases employers do not make any claim for payment by workers but instead, they will just let them go scot-free. In case of unfair dismissal of the employee by the employer, the tribunal may decide that the employee should be paid legal redundancy and other income lost during that period. Regarding unfairness of the workers the claimant is compensated for personal damages, which are usually between £3,000 to £5,000 and the salary of between three to six months (Kohl, 2012, p.157). If one of the parties feels that the decision arrived at by the tribunal is not just, he or she can petition the case in an appeal tribunal for another hearing. Bibliography Cunningham, N and Reed, M. 2012. Employment Tribunal Claims Tactics and Precedents. Word Press. David, E.G. and Francis, C. A. 2004. Jones V. Post Office: Has the Defense of Justification Been Watered Down under the United Kingdoms Disability Discrimination Act? Academic Journal Article from Public Personnel Management, Vol. 33, No. 2. Public Personnel Management. Pp.88-94. David, G. L. and Francis, C. A. A Comparative Assessment of Labor Dispute Resolution in the United States & the United Kingdom. Academic Journal Article from St. Johns Law Review, Vol. 81, No. 1/2. 624-637. Huff, R. and Killias, M. 2008. Wrongful Conviction: International Perspectives on Miscarriages of Justice. Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 2008. PP.327. HM Courts & Tribunals Service. 2012. Making a Claim to an Employment Tribunal. pp.13 John, F. 2012. From the Mailbag: More Clarity on Employment Law: Magazine article from Financial Management (UK). Financial Management (UK). Kohl, B.C. 2012. Unfair Dismissal - Your Rights after the Termination of Your Employment: The United Nations Administrative Tribunal. Management Services, PP.196 Wolfe, C. 2004. That Eminent Tribunal: Judicial Supremacy and the Constitution. Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press. PP.250. Read More