Government publishes details of protected conversations proposals

The Government has tabled an amendment to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill, detailing its proposals for “protected conversations“.

Under the proposals, an employment tribunal would not be able to take into account “any offer made or discussions held, before the termination of the employment in question, with a view to it being terminated on terms agreed between the employer and the employee”. However this would only apply when determining a claim for unfair dismissal, it would not affect discrimination claims or other complaints.

However, if something “improper” arises in the discussion, the proposals would allow the tribunal to take the discussion into account.

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Laurie Anstis, associate solicitor at Boyes Turner said in his blog: “Expect plenty of argument about what [‘improper’] might mean and, of course, a tribunal is going to have to hear all about the protected conversation in order to determine whether or not the behaviour has been improper.”

Further information on the proposals on protected conversations is available on XpertHR.