Employers have been warned that they will face stiff penalties for unwittingly getting their employment procedures wrong under imminent dispute resolution legislation, according to EEF, the manufacturers organisation, one of the UK’s leading employers’ bodies.
The new laws, introduced from 1 October, will require employers and employees to follow statutory dispute resolution procedures, where the employer contemplates dismissal or certain types of disciplinary action and, where the employee has a complaint which might lead to a tribunal claim about action taken by the employer.
To help employers deal with their new obligations, EEF has produced a new guide, the first to be launched to help employers. It explains in practical terms how these new regulations will affect them, why they may need to revise their procedures and how to ensure that they and their employees can comply with their new obligations.
In addition, it considers how the new rules will apply in practice and how the new procedures fit with established good practice. Through a series of chapters and case studies the guide also answers a number of ‘what if?’ questions about how the law tackles issues that might arise.
In particular, the guide will help employers avoid unwittingly breaking the law. Whilst the new regulations have been introduced as part of a package of measures intended to ensure workplace disputes are resolved through dialogue rather than litigation, an approach the EEF supports, they have created a number of traps for the unwary, even those with very well developed employment practices.
EEF Director of Employment & Legal Affairs, Peter Schofield, said:
"If a dispute reaches tribunal, employers will face stiff penalties if they have not strictly followed the new rules on resolving disputes. This Guide gives practical help on how to handle all the typical situations where the new law applies and alerts employers to potential pitfalls."
The guide costs £90. EEF members can get discounted additional copies.
EEF regional Associations are running a number of seminars around the UK to explain the new laws and the implications for employers. These seminars are open to all companies, not just EEF members.
EEF, the manufacturers organisation is the representative voice of manufacturing in the UK with a federation of 13 regional Associations and ECIA, the Engineering Construction Industry Association. EEF has a growing membership of almost 6,000 companies of all sizes, employing some 900,000 people from every sector of engineering, manufacturing, engineering construction and technology-based industries.