Chamber Calls For Employment Law Changes

Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce today calls for a simplification of the rules relating to industrial tribunals and other complex areas of employment law which are stifling job creation and strangling economic growth.

It comes on the back of the release of a new report by the British Chambers' of Commerce (BCC), which argues that basic workplace protections have been supplemented with burdensome rights to request, extended time-off provisions and unreasonable Health and Safety restrictions.

The report, entitled "Employment regulation: Up To The Job?"*, presents a number of ways that employment legislation and the tribunal system can be rebalanced to bring about reduced costs, less bureaucracy and improved competitiveness of the UK economy.

Some of the problems facing firms that are identified in the report include:

  • An unacceptable average waiting time of 20 weeks for a first hearing at an employment tribunal
  • The extreme difficulty that employers face in proving that an employee has committed gross misconduct
  • The responsibility placed on firms to ensure that the same Health and Safety provisions are made for both home workers and staff based at business premises, which includes carrying out a risk assessment and an assurance that lighting and glare within a worker's home is safe.
  • Employees being allowed to make claims against their employer without taking any advice on the merits of their claim

George Cowcher, Chief Executive of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber, said: "If the Government is serious about encouraging job creation and growth as the economic recovery continues, then we simply must see a commitment to less regulation, and crucially, a review of current employment regulations and the burdens they impose.

"This new report has found that there is still a significant of unnecessary employment red tape strangling firms, which can be removed by simple changes to existing legislation to help create an environment which nurtures economic growth and job creation rather than stifles it. 

"Some of the changes to legislation that we are calling for today include   implementing a maximum 16-week waiting time for a first tribunal hearing; changing the law to allow dismissal if an employer ‘reasonably believes' that a member of staff's actions constitute gross misconduct; rebalancing legislation so that home-based workers take on more responsibility for Health and Safety in their own home and employers aren't penalised for offering a more flexible working system; and ensuring that employees can only make claims after receiving legal advice from either a solicitor, trades union or ACAS."


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