The Gazette 1981

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1981

GAZETTE

The third category of award is compensation, up to a maximum of two years "remuneration". Some large awards running to five figures have been awarded by the Tribunal. The maximum was awarded in 2.5% of cases in 1979. The 1979 Annual Report of the Employment Appeals Tribunal was issued recently and considering that the figures referred to in the report were based on a survey of claims actually filed in the calendar year 1979, the percentages approximate closely to those of our own survey. We reproduce two Tables from the Report showing the number and outcome of cases, and a detailed breakdown of the amounts awarded in successful Unfair Dismissal claims where compensation was deemed to be the appropriate remedy. Summary of the amounts awarded in 117 Unfair Dismissal orders formulated and perfected in 1979 in which the redress determined by the Tribunal was the employee's entitlement to compensation. Total Awarded £178,214.56 Average Awarded £1,523.20 £1 to £100 12 £1,000 to £2,000 22 £100 to £200 12 £2,000 to £3,000 6 £200 to £300 8 £3,000 to £4,000 2 £300 to £400 8 £4,000 to £5,000 2 £400 to £500 10 £5,000 to £6,000 2 £500 to £600 7 £6,000 to £7,000 3 £600 to £700 7 £7,000 to £8,000 1 £700 to £800 2 £8,000 to £9,000 2 £800 to £900 5 £9,000 to £10,000 2 £900 to £1,000 2 £10,000 to £11.000 1 £11,000 to £12,000 1

The Employment Appeals Tribunal

A Review

The Federated Union of Employers (F.U.E.) provides, as part of its service to member companies, represen- tation at the Employment Appeals Tribunal and Rights Commissioners. This service has been developed over the years, and our advice and assistance is now backed by a comprehensive information service and a full-time legal adviser. Over 90% of members appearing at the Tribunal use the services of F.U.E. A characteristic of the involvement of F.U.E. is that of all cases involving F.U.E., 14% were settled without recourse to a full hearing, compared with a 6% settlement rate for solicitors. In 1979, 40% of Unfair Dismissal claims succeeded. 33% of Minimum Notice claims succeeded, 30% of Redundancy claims succeeded, and 32% of claims were dismissed totally. In the December 1980 issue of the Bulletin , we examined the performance of the Employment Appeals Tribunal in 1979. In this issue, we analyse some of the results of our survey that may be of interest to member companies. The first point is that of the attraction of the Employment Appeals Tribunal to employees seeking compensation. The Tribunal has awarded some substantial sums to claimants, and appears, therefore, more attractive in the eyes of the employee who feels he has a very good case. Awards in Unfair Dismissal cases in 1979 totalled £146,138 with the average award being £1,228. Monetary awards are by far the most commonly used of the three remedies allowed by the Unfair Dismissals Act. Of all Unfair Dismissals claims in 1979, 40% were successful - of these 12% involved "re instatement" (employee re-employed in same position as before dismissal with no break in service, full pay for the period of dismissal and no loss of rights, seniority, etc., as a result of the break). Only 12% of cases resulted in "re-engagement" (employee to be restored to his former position with no entitlements in relation to the break in service, the employee "starts from scratch" on the day he is re engaged).

Grand Total Withdrawn 1

Grand Total Decided

No. of Appeals

Referred to the

Tribunal in 1979 Allowed

Withdrawn Prior to Hearing Withdrawn

Dismissed 107 278

During Hearing

Redundancy Payments Act

504 171

52

32

84

Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act

117 363

504 246

68

163

95

Unfair Dis-

166 331

60

68

128

402 165

missals Act

912* 180

195 375*

1,410 582 390

Grand Total

*Some of these appeals were referred to the Tribunal prior to 1979.

(Reprinted, by kind permission, from the Bulletin of the Federated Union of Employers, January 1981.)

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