Tribunal fees: an alternative view
Not all commentators have criticised fees for employment tribunals.
James Sproule, Director of Policy at the Institute of Directors, has said: “Fees are a sensible way to weed out weak or vexatious claims before they reach employment tribunal. Before the refundable charges were introduced, fewer than one in ten tribunal cases against IoD members were won by the claimant, wasting large amounts of money and management time for businesses.
“Claimants on benefits or lower incomes are exempt from the fees so we do not think they are a barrier to wronged employees getting compensation. [The Labour Party] must be very careful that they do not once again make the system a one-way bet, where the entire burden is on the employer.”
Many employers will agree with this.
Dermott Thomas is a litigation lawyer at Barker Gotelee, Solicitors in Ipswich.