A new fast-track scheme is to be introduced to give extra help to workers awarded payouts from former employers at employment tribunals to ensure they receive their payments.
A new fast-track scheme is to be introduced to give extra help to workers awarded payouts from former employers at employment tribunals to ensure they receive their payments.
The Employment Tribunal Fast Track scheme, in place from 6 April, has been created because of the high number of employers failing to pay. According to Ministry of Justice research published in May 2009, 39% of people granted awards did not receive their payments and only 53% were paid in full.
To start the fast track process, employees will pay a £50 court fee for the writ to seize assets, and this fee will be added to the debt owed by their employer. The £70.50 the high court enforcement officer would normally charge the employee if the award could not be recovered will be waived.
A public register of defaulters was introduced in April 2009 to encourage employers to pay up. Since that date, the Ministry of Justice has added the details of 570 individuals and companies.
The register, at www.trustonline.org.uk, can be searched by members of the public and credit reference firms, and contains details of defaulters who have court judgments, orders, criminal fines and now tribunal awards registered against them.
Richard Dunstan, social policy officer for Citizens Advice, which has lobbied for extra enforcement help for employees, says: “We warmly welcome this measure, which we hope will give the Employment Tribunal system the teeth it needs to ensure that rogue employers actually pay the awards made against them.
“All too often at present, a successful claim to the Tribunal proves to be a hollow victory. That is unfair to the claimants, to the taxpayer, and to the great majority of employers who abide by the law.”
