The Labour Party has proposed to increase the time limit that employees can raise a claim at the employment tribunal from three months to six months, if it gets into power.
In its green paper last year on employment rights, A New Deal for Working People, Labour said it would extend the time period for bringing claims to employment tribunals but did not detail by how much.
Speaking at a fringe event organised by the charity Pregnant Then Screwed at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, shadow women and equalities minister Anneliese Dodds said the limit should be raised from three to six months to give pregnant women who may have been unfairly dismissed more time to get redress.
Thomas Beale, partner at law firm Bolt Burdon Kemp, said: “Increasing the time limit for bringing claims to the employment tribunal would be beneficial to victims of discrimination in the workplace, as it removes the pressure to rush into litigation, and allows more time to process the potentially traumatic experiences they have been through. For this reason, the proposed policy will likely encourage more people to pursue a claim through the tribunal system.”
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Pregnant Then Screwed has said that expectant mothers who are mid-term have to make difficult decisions about bringing a claim while still pregnant.
“The tribunal experience coupled with the experience of being discriminated against places undue pressure on pregnant women and new mothers, and in the case of high-risk pregnancies, it also endangers the health of the unborn baby,” it said.
“Bringing a claim within this time is an unreasonable expectation of discrimination victims and is one of the reasons why less than 1% raise a claim.”
Barrister Gus Baker said at the event he often has difficult conversations with potential clients about their prospects if they have brought claims after more than three months.
According to the Law Society Gazette, he said: “The three-month time limit for discrimination complaints discourages many people with strong cases from bringing them.
“Whilst in Equality Act claims the tribunal has a discretion to extend time, this is the exception, not the rule and creates uncertainty dissuading meritorious cases. A six-month time limit would be better for employers and employees: allowing more space for negotiations instead of causing a rush towards litigation.”
Beale added: “Increasing the time limit for bringing a claim to the employment tribunal to six months would have advantages for both employers and employees. By removing the intense time-pressure of litigation within a three-month period, it would promote a more cooperative and constructive dialogue between the parties, thereby encouraging the likelihood of settling claims outside of the tribunal system.”
Labour has also previously said it would introduce tougher penalties for those who break the law or fail to comply with employment tribunal orders including personal liability company directors.
In 2020, the Law Commission recommended an extension to the time limit for people to bring claims to employment tribunals from the current three months to six months.
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