January 2011 – Department for Business, Innovation and Skills launches “Resolving workplace disputes: A consultation” to reform employment law. The stated aim is to make the UK the “best place to start and grow a business”. In reality this is a euphemism for making it a worse place to be a worker, and making justice even more unattainable in employment disputes.

April 2011 – “Resolving workplace disputes: a consultation” results in the qualifying period for unfair dismissal being extended from one year to two, and the “intention to undertake a fundamental review of the current procedure rules for employment tribunals”.

October 2011 – The government seeks the advice of Wonga CEO, right-wing lobbyist and Conservative party donor Adrien Beecroft. Unsurprisingly, The Beecroft Report recommends the destruction of the protective function of employment law, particularly the Employment Tribunal system which it brands ‘expensive, time consuming and personally stressful’. The majority of the recommendations have since been implemented.

March 2012 – Department for Business, Innovation and Skills launches consultation on “no-fault dismissal” as recommended by Beecroft – a proposal to allow businesses with under 10 employees to dismiss workers without giving reason.

April 2012 – The maximum amount a Judge can order a party to pay as a deposit for proceeding with a case is increased from £500 to £1,000.

April 2012 – Unfair dismissal cases will be heard by an Employment Judge sitting alone, unless a Judge decides otherwise, rather than by a full tribunal with an employer and employee representative.

21 May 2012 – Beecroft report is published by Vince Cable as government comes under fire for “no-fault dismissal” plans.

June 2012 – The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill 2013 (ERRA), the vehicle for many of Beecroft’s reforms, enters parliament.

19 June 2012 – No-fault dismissal is abandoned after it receives almost no support from small businesses, with both the Chambers of Commerce and the Confederation of British Industry opposing the plans.

April 2013 – The minimum consultation period for negotiations between unions and employers aimed at reducing the number of redundancies by looking for alternative solutions was halved from 90 days to 45 days.

25 April 2013 – Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 gains royal assent.

July 2013 – The coalition will reduce the maximum unfair dismissal compensatory award by two-thirds, from the present £72,300 to either £26,000 or the workers annual salary – whichever is lower. Although the maximum compensation is very rarely awarded, this will lower compensatory awards across the board (ERRA).



25 June 2013 – Legislation making it harder for employees to blow the whistle on employer malpractice comes into effect. Whistleblowers must now prove their information is in the ‘public interest’ and that it falls into one of the six categories of public disclosure accepted by the law: information relating to a criminal offence, a breach of legal obligation, a miscarriage of justice, risk to the health and safety of an individual, damage to the environment, or the deliberate concealment of information.

July 2013 – Employment Tribunal fees are introduced. Employees now face fees of up to £1,250 to bring their employer to tribunal.

July 2013 – The worker and employer representatives at an employment tribunal have been dispensed with, meaning the judge now sits alone.

July 2013 – “Protected Conversations” come into force. An employer will be able to offer to pay an employee to leave. The employee won’t be able to use anything said in the discussion as evidence in any unfair dismissal claim – the ‘protection’ is for the employer, who will not have to go through a formal process, not the employee.

1 September 2013 – “Employee Shareholder” employment status is introduced. An employee can give up their unfair dismissal rights, their right to redundancy pay and flexible working and time off for training or study in exchange for shares in a company.

6 May 2014 – Acas Early Concilliation, becomes a legal requirement, and all claims lodged will first go through Acas. Tribunal claims will not be accepted unless the complaint has been referred to Acas and a conciliation certificate issued (ERRA). No additional funding is given to Acas.