Changes to Statutory Procedures on Dismissals
The Employment Bill which is due to come into force next year will include some welcome changes for employers who have struggled with the complexity of statutory procedures relating to dismissals. It is intended that the Bill will repeal the parts of the Employment Act 2002 which refer to statutory procedures and follows widespread criticism of the complexity of the law and the fact that a justifiable dismissal can still be treated as unfair due to an inadvertent failure to follow the required procedures.
It is intended that if a Tribunal finds that following the correct procedure would have made no difference to the outcome, the dismissal may still be deemed unfair but the Tribunal can reduce the compensation payable. In appropriate cases the compensation may be reduced to nil.
The ACAS Code of Practice is also being substantially revised and will be reissued when the Bill come into force.
The above information is not intended to be a complete or definitive statement of the law. For more information or advice please contact our Employment Law team.
