The Workers Rights 
Employers in England, Wales and Scotland will have to wait far longer to act in employment tribunals after the cut in the time period during which most cases can be brought from three months to six months.
The reform extends the time limits afforded workers for seeking compensation over dismissals, discrimination, unlawful wage deductions and other legal employment conflicts. Companies need to take a new look at their HR records, and litigation-prone protocols.
What the Six-Month Tribunal Window Covers?
This extended-term applies to a number of statutory employment claims such as unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal, equality and discrimination, unfair deductions from wages and in some cases statutory pay disputes. The limitation period for cases involving dismissal runs from the Effective Date of Termination for most cases.
In claims for discrimination, the time period of action will typically run from the date of the alleged discriminatory action, or from the last action, if the actions are continued. Even employees need to take into account the flexibility of Acas Early Conciliation, which may even be able to “break the clock” and extend the effective filing date.
How Employers Run Higher Risk of Litigation?
The longer window creates the occasion for employers to no longer consider the absence of a claim in the usual 3-month period a good sign that litigation risk is minimal. Former workers now have more time to get council and time to think about their choices and begin proceedings.
The change also brings with it issues relating to the evidence and witnesses. Managers can depart the business, memory can fade and responsibilities can shift before the issues or business concerns are brought before any tribunal, which is why contemporaneous recording becomes even more vital.
Why HR Record-Keeping Matters?
Employers must look at Document retention – Investigation Notes; Disciplinary Record; Redundancy Scoring; Performance Review & Dismissal decisions. Relevant e-mails and communications in the workplace should be saved when there could reasonably arise a dispute that could potentially turn into litigation.
Exit procedures should also document necessary contact information for significant investigators and/or managers. Ensuring access to potential witnesses may be crucial especially when claims are presented several months after an employee has left the organisation.
Acas Early Conciliation and Employer Response
Acas Early Conciliation is an essential point that is passed before a lot of claims can end up in the Employment Tribunal. The process can have an impact on the limitation calculation, this could extend the time span between an employment event and a claim for the Tribunal considerably beyond 6 months.
The employers should therefore not wait to take action after they were notified about the potential claims. Businesses can avoid having to go to formalized processes to solve disagreements if they are properly assessed right away, adequate documentation and constructive interaction occurs throughout the conciliation process.
What Employers Should Do Now?
HR teams should review policies, case-management and retention policies, and revise them to account for the extended litigator exposure. There should also be training on creating clear, factual and up-to-date records for managers at disciplinary, grievance and dismissal meetings.
The businesses should examine the procedures for automatic deletion to make sure that potentially relevant evidence is not deleted too early. There are a number of ways for employers to ensure they retain the evidence and respond to tribunal allegations more effectively, and this can be achieved through a coordinated response involving HR, legal and compliance teams.
FAQs
What is the new arrangement for the limitation period in Employment Tribunals?
The reform above applies to many employment claims and the standard limitation period was increased from 3 months to 6 months.
What claims might be affected by the extended time period?
Many statutory claims such as unfair dismissal, discrimination, withholding of pay, etc. exist within the extended period.
Does Acas Early Conciliation impact the time limit?
Yes. Where written representations and a written statement of agreed and unagreed points are submitted, Acas Early Conciliation may halt the limitation calculation, allowing an Employment Tribunal claim to be filed more time than would otherwise be allowed for.
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