I think it is reasonable, when people have been treated in an appalling and unfair fashion by their employers, that they should be properly compensated.
The Bill contains a related measure to give the Secretary of State the power to vary compensatory awards for employers of different descriptions. The Employment Lawyers Association, of which I used to be a member, said last week that having different rules for micro-businesses, for example, would make people think twice about working for small businesses, knowing that they would have less employment protection than if they worked for a large employer.
We have no objection in principle to the proposal to introduce early conciliation by ACAS in advance of the full submission of a claim to the employment tribunal. I understand, however, that the Government intend to spell out more of the detail in secondary legislation. It is therefore essential that any future regulations be subject to the proper scrutiny of the House. Early conciliation will result in a claimant who is seeking redress having to go through two different processes, with different time limits and different forms to fill in, before instituting a claim. It will therefore be important to ensure, particularly in relation to unrepresented claimants or those with poor literacy and numeracy, that the new regime does not act as a barrier to justice for those seeking redress.
Above all, it will be important to ensure that ACAS is properly resourced to carry out its proposed new expanded role. We know that its resources have already been reduced. The Secretary of State and his Ministers will need to give proper assurances and guarantees that it will be properly resourced to carry out this work.
The Bill also contains measures relating to the composition and workings of employment tribunals. As I have said before, we are not opposed to reforming the way in which employment tribunals work, given the frequent problems that employees and employers experience while navigating their way through the system. That is why we supported the establishment of the Underhill review. However, that is quite different from tampering with people’s fundamental rights at work, which we oppose.