Law expert speaks after controversial new ruling

MANAGING director and head of employment at Verisona Law, Sue Ball has given her opinion on a controversial ruling on tribunal fees.
Sue BallSue Ball
Sue Ball

The recent Supreme Court hearing has seen fees for bringing cases to an Employment Tribunal ruled as ‘unlawful’.

Introduced in 2013, the fees range between £390 and £1,200 and aimed to reduce time and money spent on speculative and malicious employment law cases. However, these led to a 79 per cent reduction over the past three years and saw outcry from unions, employee rights organisations and the legal profession.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Trade union group Unison argued that workers were being denied access to the justice they were entitled to. Their argument was successful and the government is now said to be in line to pay claimants £32m.

The Supreme Court ruled the government was acting unlawfully when it introduced the fees.

Sue said: ‘Legal recourse should not only be available to those who can afford it.’

‘Ideally, I would like to see a middle ground with a filter process that assesses the merits of a case and not the ability to pay fees. Public money would then be saved as regards the costs of running the Employment Tribunal service.’

Related topics: