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Unison: unfair is not unlawful

08 September 2017
Issue: 7760 / Categories: Legal News , Tribunals , Employment
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The Supreme Court’s ruling that employment tribunal fees ‘are unfair, therefore they are unlawful’ is ‘surprising’, a senior employment law solicitor has said.

Writing in this week’s NLJGSC Solicitors partner Tessa Fry points out that most of the evidence was rejected by the High Court and the Court of Appeal, whereas the Supreme Court ‘accepted almost all of Unison’s arguments some of which were based on hypothetical examples and assumptions, rather than actual evidence’.

Fry says the introduction of fees was not the sole reason for the decline in tribunal cases, for example, the qualifying period for unfair dismissal was raised from one to two years, compensation for unfair dismissal was limited to 12 months’ pay, and tribunals were given increased powers to strike out claims at an early stage.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

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The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
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