Nothing short of seismic change in the realm of employment law  has occurred by nature of  the signing into law recently of the Workplace Relations Act 2015. Instead of myriad complex routes to various bodies the employment law process has now been simplified greatly.

 

All employment rights claims now go  to single  adjudicator for a hearing  and onto the Labour Court for appeal if necessary. The Labour Court hearing  will now be conducted in public for such appeals. There will also be an  emphasis on mediation  as a settlement process before a hearing stage.

 

The Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT), Equality Tribunal and the Rights Commissioner service will be wound up when they have finished dealing with residual claims. Staff will be redeployed into the new process.

 

It is hoped that such a change will be for the benefit of workers in that  it is envisaged that claims will be processed faster and that the timescale for  hearings and decisions will be greatly reduced. Up to now it was not uncommon to  wait for over a year for an EAT hearing, and sometimes for  up to two years for an Equality hearing. The old legal maxim applied: “Justice delayed is justice denied”.

 

Workers Rights Centre staff have been training on the new procedures and are ready and more than willing to fully engage when called upon   for the Adjudicator Service  or the  Labour Court when required. Join us on our new website where we hope to constantly update you on significant cases or other developments in the area of employment law. The slogan, as always, “An injury to one is the concern of all.”