York business leaders urged to help halt employment tribunal trouble (From York Press)

York business leaders urged to help halt employment tribunal trouble

11:40am Tuesday 16th March 2010 in

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BUSINESS leaders in York and North and East Yorkshire are being asked to campaign against a “relentless flow of employment regulation” and a “dysfunctional” tribunal service.

The plea comes from the Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, which has invited local bosses to meet MPs and senior civil servants on March 26 to launch a British Chamber of Commerce report.

The report, entitled Employment Regulation: Up To The Job, calls for employment law to be made fairer to businesses, claiming the regulation overload and slow tribunal service are “stifling UK competitiveness and risking future job creation”.

It calls for the level of employment regulation to be reduced and rebalanced and the tribunal system to be overhauled. It claims the average waiting time for a first hearing at an employment tribunal is 20 weeks.

And it says with more than half of UK cases dismissed, too many innocent employers are being dragged through a lengthy procedure and incurring unnecessary costs, which many businesses “simply cannot afford in the current economic climate”.

The campaign also calls for it to become compulsory for employees to receive professional advice from either a solicitor or ACAS, the workplace dispute advisory service, before submitting a formal claim, which it believes will reduce the number of unfounded cases making it to tribunal. Mark Goldstone, head of corporate relations at Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “Nobody can dispute the need for workers to be protected from unscrupulous employers, but current employment law is so heavily skewed towards the employee that it often feels like businesses are guilty until proven innocent.

“This is why the chamber and its members are spearheading this campaign. We need to rebalance the system by reducing the sheer level of employment regulation which is harming the UK's competitiveness; and by redesigning the tribunal system, so that innocent businesses are not subjected to unnecessary costs, both financially and to the firm’s reputation.”

The report argues that basic workplace protections have been supplemented with burdensome rights, extended time-off provisions and unreasonable health and safety restrictions.

The chamber’s legal helpline receives many calls from businesses seeking practical support and advice as they struggle with complex rules.

To view the full report visit britishchambers.org.uk