How should working time complaints be dealt with?
Following a recent review of the split jurisdiction in employment law between the employment tribunal and the civil courts, the Law Commission has published a report containing 23 recommendations to improve the way in which employment disputes are handled in the UK. One of the recommendations which has generated much interest is the extension of the employment tribunal’s jurisdiction in dealing with claims under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR). Under the existing law, although the employment tribunal has the ability to hear complaints by individuals in areas such as rest periods and statutory annual leave, other provisions of the WTR that relate to working time limits must be enforced elsewhere.
The Law Commission believes that the implementation of its proposals will result in a stronger, more comprehensible enforcement mechanism for the maximum hours provisions. However, the reforms have attracted criticism from businesses that have expressed concern that the proposed changes would encourage workers to seek resolution through litigation rather than addressing concerns with their employers first, which could damage ongoing working relationships.
Brian Gegg, Partner and Asten Hawkes, Solicitor in BDB Pitmans’ employment team, discuss this in their article for People Management.
The full article is available here.