Monthly Archives: March 2012

Employers – Are you Ready for the Diamond Jubilee?

Having a holiday policy in place to manage time off and leave requests will be even more important in 2012 with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.  The policy should be fair and consistent whilst maintaining employee morale during the festivities.  There will be an additional bank holiday on Tuesday 5 June and the Spring Bank Holiday will be Monday 4 June so potentially with an extra three days booked employees could take a nine day holiday.  It coincides with the summer half term so employers may face a huge number of holiday requests.

There is no statutory right to bank/public holidays, so the announcement of an extra bank holiday does not increase any entitlement to holiday under the Working Time Regulations. Whether an employee will benefit from the additional bank holiday will depend on the wording of their contract.  A contract which entitles a worker to 20 days annual leave + public holidays would potentially give the worker an extra day’s paid holiday whereas a contractual clause stating 28 days including bank holidays would not entitle employees to an additional public holiday. There is no legal right to be paid any extra for working a bank holiday. This will depend on the terms of the employment contract.

Employers need to consider are clashing leave requests  and ensuring sufficient cover so they need to plan ahead to avoid any pitfalls.  

Employment Tribunal Reform – An Overview

The draft tribunal regulations are being laid down before Parliament with a huge raft of proposed changes designed to make the employment tribunal system more effective and decrease the ever increasing burden on the system.


The proposals include that claims are to be lodged with ACAS to allow early conciliation before they enter the tribunal system.  ACAS will have one month (which may be extended for a further 2 weeks) in which to offer non-compulsory early conciliation, during which period the clock for the relevant time limit will be stopped. ACAS will retain its duty to provide post claim conciliation.


The use of mediation and compromise agreements is also proposed with the aim of increasing the use of alternative dispute resolution and improving the use of simplified compromise agreements where employment needs to end.


It is proposed to tackle weaker cases by introducing a fee.  Currently there is a requirement to pay a deposit order of £500 if a tribunal judge feels a case is weak and the claimant wishes to proceed.  This will become more flexible with the ability to increase an order to a maximum level of £1000.  There will also be a maximum cap on cost awards limits from £10,000 to £20,000.


With a view to shortening tribunal hearings it is proposed that witness statements should be taken as read, unless a judge or tribunal directs otherwise. Additionally, parties and witnesses attending tribunal hearings will no longer be able to claim for the payment of their expenses.  Unfair dismissal cases will normally be heard by an employment judge sitting alone.


The draft regulations include a proposal for extending the qualification period for unfair dismissal from one to two years but only for employees who commence with new employers from 6 April 2012.


The introduction of financial penalties for employers is also proposed if they are found to have breached employment rights with judges having flexibility on imposing a charge where to negligence or malice is found.