The IER supports the use of mediation in resolving employment disputes but argues this must be a voluntary measure and the resources available to ACAS must be increased .
Legal officers to make judgements Changes
Legal officers are being given the power to determine some tribunal claims , rather than a judge .
Criticism
" A new tier of legal officers would be cheaper than employment judges but may also be insufficiently knowledgeable and skilled in employment law to handle anything but the simplest of cases . Indeed what is on the face of it a simple claim for , say , unlawful deduction of wages can involve a complicated point or points of law ," Anya Palmer stated in the IER ' s response to the ERR BIll .
Our view was supported by Lord Young and Baroness Donaghy in the House of Lords , with the former noting that " decisions made by a legal officer would have the same status as an employment tribunal decision ", despite the fact they are not trained to make such judgements , may not be specialised in employment law and have never been asked to take on this role before .
Baroness Donaghy added that the proposal seems to simply be a way of attempting to procure cheaper legal services without considering the impact on the quality of judgements .
There is no justification for this change to the law and the " savings " the government intends to make in this area are not worth the cost of workers ' access to justice .
Settlement agreements banned as evidence at tribunals Changes
The government is determined to encourage the use of settlement agreements , whereby an employer can offer monetary compensation to settle a dispute rather than the disagreement being resolved through the tribunal process . For this reason , it has made it law that the offer of a settlement agreement to an employee will not be permitted to be used as evidence in unfair dismissal cases .
Criticism
Director of the IER Carolyn Jones described these changes as part of a " a bullies ' charter in the making " back in March 2012 , when they were still merely proposals . Even the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development agreed with her , stating that " failings in management and leadership … are a far greater brake on growth
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