Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Service provision changesEmployment lawLatest NewsDismissalEmployment tribunals

Five employment law changes that come into force on 29 July 2013

by Madeleine Graham 29 Jul 2013
by Madeleine Graham 29 Jul 2013

Hot on the heels of June’s employment law changes come another raft of measures, relevant to all organisations, which come into force on 29 July 2013. Personnel Today sets out five things that employers and HR professionals need to know about the new legislation.

1. Compromise agreements renamed settlement agreements

Compromise agreements will be renamed “settlement agreements”. The use of these will be facilitated by new rules in relation to pre-termination negotiations.

  • Compromise agreements renamed “settlement agreements”.

2.  Pre-termination negotiations become inadmissible in unfair dismissal proceedings

Evidence of “pre-termination negotiations” between an employer and employee will be inadmissible in ordinary unfair dismissal claims. This goes further than the “without prejudice” principle as it will apply even where no formal dispute has yet arisen. The legislation applies to negotiations held with a view to terminating employment under a settlement agreement.

  • Implementation date for pre-termination negotiation provisions announced.
  • Can an employee rely on confidential pre-termination negotiations with the employer as evidence in a tribunal claim?

3. Claimants start paying a fee to submit a claim to an employment tribunal

Claimants who issue a claim against their employer in the employment tribunal are required to pay a fee. Fees will also be payable by respondents in some circumstances.

  • Fees for tribunal claims introduced.
  • What fees does a claimant have to pay when bringing an employment tribunal claim?
  • What fees are payable when a party appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal?
  • Can employment tribunal fees be waived if the claimant cannot afford to pay?
  • In what circumstances are respondents required to pay tribunal fees?
  • What happens if a claimant submits an employment tribunal claim without the required fee?

4. New employment tribunal rules

Changes to mployment tribunal rules include combining pre-hearing reviews and case management discussions into a preliminary hearing, revised powers for tribunal judges to strike out weak cases and a requirement that an employment tribunal must, where appropriate, encourage parties to use alternative dispute resolution.

  • Government publishes new employment tribunal rules.
  • What are preliminary hearings?
  • Does an employment tribunal have the power to strike out a weak case?
  • Is there anything that an employer can do if it misses the deadline for submitting a response to an employment tribunal claim?

5. Reduced cap on the compensatory award for unfair dismissal introduced

An individual cap of 12 months’ pay in relation to the compensatory award for unfair dismissal is introduced. The individual cap will apply where this amount is less than the overall cap, currently £74,200.

  • Compensatory award limit for unfair dismissal amended.
  • What is the unfair dismissal compensatory award?

Coming soon…

More key employment law developments are coming into force in 2013, including a new tier of employment status: “employee shareholders”. Keep up to date with all the forthcoming changes using the XpertHR legal timetable.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This article was originally published earlier in July 2013.

2013
Madeleine Graham

Madeleine Graham wrote for XpertHR from 2011 until 2020, most recently as managing editor.

previous post
Can you write an HR policy using fewer than 140 characters?
next post
What the Usdaw v Woolworths redundancy consultation case means for employers

You may also like

Performance management is broken: how can we rebuild?

11 Jul 2025

Gregg Wallace case: don’t be too hasty to...

11 Jul 2025

‘Replace sick notes with gym’, Streeting tells GPs

11 Jul 2025

Workers with second jobs at an all-time high

11 Jul 2025

How using data can transform return-to-office mandates

11 Jul 2025

Ministers loosen fire and rehire proposals in Employment...

10 Jul 2025

£188k tribunal award for director sacked after cardiac...

10 Jul 2025

It’s no secret – parity in the workplace...

10 Jul 2025

Firms’ salary secrecy means ‘they lose out on...

10 Jul 2025

Court of Appeal rules that Ryanair agency pilot...

9 Jul 2025

  • Empower and engage for the future: A revolution in talent development (webinar) WEBINAR | As organisations strive...Read more
  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+