Recent Changes in Employment Law and Workplace Mediation
A number of employment law changes come into force today including the annual increase in national minimum wage rates, new rights for fathers and partners to take unpaid time off to attend antenatal appointments and new powers for a tribunal to order an equal pay audit. For more information please see our employment law calendar which also contains dates of forthcoming webinars.
Recent figures also divulge that employment tribunal claims have dropped by 71% in quarter 2 of 2014 from April to June. Clearly fees are having a significant impact on claimants’ decisions to pursue cases. But these figures are also the first to be published since early conciliation became optional in April and then mandatory in May this year. The new system encourages employees to avoid lodging claims by attempting conciliation, a form of mediation, before a claim is raised. In recent years both tribunals and the government have been eager to encourage those involved in workplace disputes to consider mediation to resolve their differences.
And since we like to keep ahead of the curve here at CMS, today we are launching our own Workplace Mediation Service. This new service offers employers an early opportunity to resolve workplace conflict quickly and in a cost effective manner by trusted professionals. Our team of nine accredited mediators are based throughout the UK and are experienced in a range of workplace and commercial disputes. For more information on the team please contact Val Dougan or click here for more information.
