Employment Tribunal fees start today

This is a sad day for British justice and the protection of ordinary people at work. Check out this BBC report " Under the rules, it will cost £160 or £250 to lodge a claim, with a further charge of either £230 or £950 if the case goes ahead....in the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the fees are £400 to lodge an appeal and another £1,200 for a full hearing".

I am pleased that UNISON has been given permission to challenge these fees in a Judicial Review.

But it not just the fees. The minimum time to be employed before you can claim unfair dismissal is now 2 years not 1 year.

Independent trade union and employer representatives have been kicked off as lay judges in most tribunals. Employer's can threaten and bully employees out of a job by holding what is called "protected conversations" with them. "Conversations" that cannot normally be quoted in a tribunal. Possible awards have been reduced and restricted.

Costs can (and are) already levied for so called "frivolous claims".

The only possible positive thing arising from all this is that workers who don't join a trade union because they think the law will protect them at work will have to wake up and get real. The law will not not protect them at work, nor their employers. Only your union can protect you at work. UNISON and other trade unions have already pledged to pay the fees for members in a union supported case.

ps. Check out that well know communist, "Red" Lord Justice Mummery defence of the existing system.