Jo Keddie shares her views with the FT on reforms needed to the UK employment tribunals and enforcement regime following the UK worker’s rights bill

The UK’s employment tribunal system, already under strain, is set to face more pressure due to the recent reforms to workers’ rights. These significant reforms, include “day one” job rights, ending fire and rehire practices, and modernising trade union laws. However, without proper enforcement these changes will be ineffective.
Head of Employment and Partnerships, Jo Keddie’s comments on the impact of the reforms were quoted in the Financial Times article: Lawyers and MPs warn UK workers’ rights push will fail without enforcement reforms. Jo expresses “serious concerns” about the impact of the reforms. In particular, the new right for workers not to be unfairly dismissed from the start of their employment, will likely lead to an “influx” of claims and that without urgent resources, “there will be further delays and cancellations” in the tribunal system.
The article highlights that the open caseload in employment tribunals rose to 37,000 single claims by June, an 18% increase from the previous year. The government estimates a 15% rise in claims due to the reforms, adding 4,750 claims annually. To address this, the government plans to create a new Fair Work Agency, to alleviate some of the burden on tribunals.
Subcribe to news and viewsJo Keddie, partner at law firm Forsters, said she had “serious concerns about the impact” of the government’s planned reforms. In particular, Keddie said the creation of a new right for workers not to be unfairly dismissed from the start of their employment would result in a claims “influx”.
https://www.ft.com/content/8094ad63-f791-4e29-9169-5c6d647eb6b9?FTCamp=engage%2fCAPI%2falert%2fChannel_signal%2f%2fB2B