Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Employment tribunal fees ruled ‘unlawful’

Alison Woods is nwo a partner at CMS Cameron McKenna



(submitted pic)
Alison Woods is nwo a partner at CMS Cameron McKenna (submitted pic)

A landmark Supreme Court ruling that fees charged to people bringing employment tribunal claims are unlawful is a blow to the UK Government and a triumph for democracy, a leading lawyer said yesterday.

The government is to take immediate steps to stop charging employment tribunal fees and will also refund people who have already paid.

The Ministry of Justice said it accepted the judgment in favour of public sector union Unison, which has fought a four-year battle against controversial fees of up to £1,200 for taking a case to a tribunal.

Judges ruled unanimously in favour of the union, which had argued that fees discriminated against women and other groups of workers.

The court also ruled that the government acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally when it introduced the fees four years ago.

Unison estimated the government will have to refund more than £27million to the thousands of people charged for taking claims to tribunal since July 2013, when fees were introduced by Chris Grayling, the then lord chancellor.

Alison Woods, Aberdeen-based partner and employment specialist at legal firm CMS, said: “Today’s ruling will be a blow to the UK Government.

“The introduction of fees has resulted in a sharp decline of tribunal applications and raised questions about whether workers were being priced out of the justice system.

“Today’s judgement has really reflected that view by stating that the courts are not simply a service provider but are rather a fundamental aspect of our democracy.

“Many employers will, however, be disappointed. Prior to fees being introduced, their complaint was that employees had a free ride with nothing to lose in pursuing an employment tribunal claim as costs were rarely awarded in practice.”