Employment Law Update

References

The trend in recent years has been for employers to restrict references to purely factual matters.  Since at least 1995 it has been clear that employers have owed a duty of care to ex-employees when providing a reference and since then employers have increasingly shied away from giving opinions on performance or capability for fear of being sued by the disgruntled ex employee who feels prevented from securing new employment or by the employer who feels that they appointed someone on the basis of inaccurate information.

However the case of Jackson v. Liverpool City Council, shows that, even when a reference may seem unfair to the subject, the circumstances in which it is provided may justify a bad reference being given.

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Reasonable Adjustments: how much is too much?

In the case of Cordell v. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (“FCO”) the Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that the FCO did not commit an act of direct discrimination against an employee who was deaf when it refused her a placement in Kazakhstan on the basis that the provision of an English-speaking lip speaker would cost too much.

Ms Cordell entered the FCO in 2001 and worked successfully in London for several years despite the fact she was profoundly deaf.  In January 2006, she was posted to Warsaw as a First Secretary to lead the political/military press and communications team.  Ms Cordell required the assistance of professional lipspeakers who were provided for her by the FCO but, with these aids in place Mrs Cordell was able to operate to a very high standard.

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Having been mooted in the Government’s recent One In, One Out: Second Statement of New Regulation publication, the Chancellor has this week confirmed a number of Employment Law reforms which are intended to reduce the number of Employment Tribunal claims and to boost the economy in general.

The first and presently most tangible of the reforms is that, with effect from 1 April 2012, employees will require two years service rather than just one to pursue the majority of unfair dismissal claims. 

The second notable reform concerns the introduction of fees for bringing Employment Tribunal claims.  Although the precise figures are still to be confirmed, it is anticipated that an upfront fee of £250 will be incurred upon lodging a claim with the Tribunal, with a further £1,000 fee to be paid by the Claimant when the hearing is listed.  The fees will be refunded in the event of a successful claim, and relief is expected to be made available for those without the means to pay.

It will be interesting to see the effect these reforms will have but watch this space for further information as to how and when we will see them being implemented.