| Unison has claimed victory in its four-year fight against the Tories’ imposition of fees for employment tribunals. The supreme court, the country’s highest, has ruled the coalition government was acting unlawfully and unconstitutionally when they introduced the charges. The decision was unanimous. Now the Tory government will have to refund the £27m charged to the thousands who took claims to tribunals. This dates back to July 2013, when the fees were introduced by the then Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling. Under the fees legislation, any employee wanting to pursue a case against their employer in England, Scotland or Wales had had to find as much as £1200. Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said: “The government is not above the law. But when ministers introduced fees they were disregarding laws many centuries old, and showing little concern for employees seeking justice following illegal treatment at work. “The government has been acting unlawfully, and has been proved wrong – not just on simple economics, but on constitutional law and basic fairness too. “It’s a major victory for employees everywhere. Unison took the case on behalf of anyone who’s ever been wronged at work, or who might be in future. Unscrupulous employers no longer have the upper hand,” Prentis added. “These unfair fees have let law-breaking bosses off the hook these past four years, and left badly treated staff with no choice but to put up or shut up. We’ll never know how many people missed out because they couldn’t afford the expense of fees. But at last this tax on justice has been lifted.” Bronwyn McKenna, assistant general secretary at Unison, said: “The supreme court correctly criticised the government’s failure when it set the fees to consider the public benefits flowing from the enforcement of legal rights enacted by parliament. “The effective enforcement of these rights is fundamental to parliamentary democracy and integral to the development of UK law. Unison’s case has helped clarify the law and gives certainty to citizens and businesses in their everyday lives.” UNISON legal victory sees employment tribunal fees scrapped Supreme Court verdict follows four-year fight by union and is a victory for everyone in work The Supreme Court – the UK’s highest court – has unanimously ruled that the government was acting unlawfully and unconstitutionally when it introduced the fees four years ago. From today, anyone who has been treated illegally or unfairly at work will no longer have to pay to take their employers to court – as a direct result of UNISON’s legal challenge. The government will also have to refund more than £27m to the thousands of people charged for taking claims to tribunals since July 2013, when fees were introduced by then Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling. Anyone in England, Scotland and Wales wanting to pursue a case against their employer has had to find as much as £1,200. This has been a huge expense for many low-paid employees, says UNISON. Reacting to this morning‘s decision, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The government is not above the law. But when ministers introduced fees they were disregarding laws many centuries old, and showing little concern for employees seeking justice following illegal treatment at work. “The government has been acting unlawfully, and has been proved wrong – not just on simple economics, but on constitutional law and basic fairness too. “It’s a major victory for employees everywhere. UNISON took the case on behalf of anyone who’s ever been wronged at work, or who might be in future. Unscrupulous employers no longer have the upper hand. “These unfair fees have let law-breaking bosses off the hook these past four years, and left badly treated staff with no choice but to put up or shut up. “We’ll never know how many people missed out because they couldn’t afford the expense of fees. But at last this tax on justice has been lifted.” UNISON assistant general secretary Bronwyn McKenna added: “The Supreme Court correctly criticised the government’s failure when it set the fees to consider the public benefits flowing from the enforcement of legal rights enacted by Parliament. “The effective enforcement of these rights is fundamental to parliamentary democracy and integral to the development of UK law. UNISON’s case has helped clarify the law and gives certainty to citizens and businesses in their everyday lives.” The decision marks the end of a four-year fight by UNISON to overturn the government’s introduction of fees. Employment tribunal fees were introduced on 29 July 2013 and started at around £160 for a type A claim, such as wage claims, breach of contract, and £250 for a type B claim, covering issues such as unfair dismissal, race and sex discrimination. There was also a further hearing fee of £230 for Type A and £950 for Type B claims. Appeals at the employment appeal tribunal attracted an additional £400 lodging and £1,200 hearing fee. The seven Supreme Court judges ridiculed the government’s misunderstanding of “elementary economics, and plain common sense”, when it claimed higher fees would mean increased demand. The judges also said fees were set so high, it “has had a deterrent effect upon discrimination claims, among others”, and also put off more genuine cases, than the so-called vexatious claims the government claimed fees were meant to deter. The Supreme Court stressed that the administration of justice is not merely a public service, where courts and tribunals are only of value to the “users” who appear before them and who obtain a remedy. It said access to justice is of value to society as a whole, especially where cases establish legal rules and principles of general importance. The Court said UNISON’s evidence showed the fall in claims when fees came in was “so sharp, so substantial and so sustained” that they could not reasonably be afforded by those on low to middle incomes. It also held that fees particularly deterred the kind of ‘low-value’ claims generally brought by the most vulnerable workers. Court ruling is victory for workers’ access to justice, says TUC Press Release Issued: 26 July, 2017 The Supreme Court has today (Wednesday) quashed the government’s system of fees for employment tribunals. The case was taken by the UNISON trade union, which successfully argued that the fees – which can be as high as £1,200 per case — prevented many workers from gaining justice at work. TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “This is a massive win for working people. Congratulations to UNISON for doggedly pursuing this case. Today’s result shows the value of working people standing together in trade unions. “Too many low-paid workers couldn’t afford to uphold their rights at work, even when they’ve faced harassment or have been sacked unfairly. “Tribunal fees have been a bonanza for bad bosses, giving them free rein to mistreat staff. Any fees paid so far should be refunded as soon as possible.” Tribunal fees were introduced in July 2013, and can run up to £1,200 per case. The most common reasons for employment tribunal cases include unfair dismissal, holiday pay, and sex discrimination. Official statistics show that the number of cases taken by workers has dropped by nearly 70% since the fees were introduced. TUC research shows that this fall was especially high in cases involving part-time work rules (-83%), sexual orientation discrimination (-75%), and unauthorised deductions from wages (-78%). While trade unions often pay the fees for their members, the figures indicate that many workers simply cannot afford to take a case. Dave Prentis: We have won a moral struggle to end the tax on justice Today’s supreme court ruling is the most significant judicial intervention in the history of British employment law. This result is a massive win for our union and a massive win for all workers, whether they’re Unison members or not. Working people who need protection the most – low-paid workers, the vulnerable and those treated poorly by their employers – were denied access to justice by employment tribunal fees. The government infringed EU law, constitutional law and even the Magna Carta with a piece of legislation explicitly designed to deny working people their rights. Today, the supreme court has righted a terrible wrong and sided with those the government sought to silence. This ruling shows that rights are only meaningful if they can be upheld – that’s a principle with significant implications for all of our protections as we head towards Brexit. This result has been a long time coming and has involved years of hard work. Our challenge to the then coalition government – including the Liberal Democrats and their so-called progressive values – was of course legal. It was also a moral struggle – one of those moments where something is so clearly and blatantly unjust that it is imperative to challenge it by any means possible. The government’s attacks on public service employees as a result of austerity had already hit Unison members hard in terms of pay, jobs and services – to then turn on their right to legal recourse was the final straw. I knew as soon as the legislation was introduced that our union had to take a stand, especially when it had such a clear and direct discriminatory impact upon our million women members. Back then I promised Unison members at our conference that we’d take this fight to the highest court in the land to fight for their rights. Today we can say that we did that, we fought, and we won. I made a promise to our union that whatever it took – however many years and whatever the cost – I wanted our union to take this case. This was more than a legal case – it was a moral case. Doing so has been a hard slog and a huge financial investment for Unison, but it has been worth every penny. I am so proud of our union – and in particular of our union’s legal team, who have worked tirelessly to achieve this incredible result. Their skill and dedication has once again secured a huge win for working people everywhere. Of course, as well as being a day of celebration, today is also a time for reflection. We will never know just how many people were stopped from taking legal cases as a result of employment tribunal fees. We will never know how many people have been denied access to justice and to legal recourse. Their stories may remain untold and their rights unprotected. Likewise, there are those who have been forced to pay employment tribunal fees who will now demand those fees are returned to them. We will work with them to ensure the government cough up and admit they were wrong – legally and morally. Today’s result should bring to an end the cruel employment tribunal fees regime, and ensure that no-one else is ever forced to pay crippling fees just to access basic justice. But it is also a reminder of the importance of trade unions in fighting for all of our rights, and the importance of a legal system that allows us to stand with our members, and win for our members. Dave Prentis is general secretary of Unison. |