The Employment Bill, which received the Royal Assent last week, means from April 2009 statutory dispute resolution procedures will be replaced by a more flexible approach, meaning it will be more difficult for employees to prove unfair dismissal as a set of rigid procedures no longer need to be followed.
Codes published by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) have been designed to help employment tribunals assess if employees have been dismissed unfairly. Tribunals will also have the power to increase or decrease compensation by up to 25% if there is evidence that either employee or employer has not complied with the ACAS codes.
But Kate Redshaw, associate and professional support lawyer employment training co-ordinator at legal firm Burges Salmons, said: "The new code does not apply to redundancy procedures so will therefore make redundancy easier. It also does not apply to the non-renewal of fixed-term contracts on their expiry."
Redshaw added the code stresses, where possible, employers should seek to resolve disciplinary and grievance procedures in the workplace - either informally or with an independent third party.
Disciplinary procedures - good news for bosses
The removal of statutory disciplinary and grievance procedures next April could make it easier for employers to make staff redundant.
