Employment Rights (Dispute Resolution) Act 1998
Industrial tribunals are renamed employment tribunals.
Accordingly, the Industrial Tribunals Act 1996 may be cited as the Employment Tribunals Act 1996; and (wherever they occur in any enactment)—
for the words “industrial tribunal” substitute “ employment tribunal ”,
for the words “industrial tribunals” substitute “ employment tribunals ”,
for the words “the Industrial Tribunals Act 1996” substitute “ the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 ”,
for the words “President of the Industrial Tribunals (England and Wales)” substitute “ President of the Employment Tribunals (England and Wales) ”, and
for the words “President of the Industrial Tribunals (Scotland)” substitute “ President of the Employment Tribunals (Scotland) ”.
In section 7 of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (which authorises the making of employment tribunal procedure regulations), after subsection (3) insert—
In section 4 of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (which makes provision about the composition of an employment tribunal), subsection (3) (which specifies the tribunal proceedings which are to be heard by the chairman alone unless he decides otherwise) is amended in accordance with subsections (2) to (5).
In paragraph (a) (which specifies proceedings under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992)—
after “proceedings” insert “ on a complaint under section 68A or 192 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 or ”, and
for “the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992” substitute “ that Act ”.
In paragraph (c) (which specifies proceedings under the Employment Rights Act 1996)—
after “proceedings” insert “ on a reference under section 11, 163 or 170 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, ”,
after “section 23” insert “ , 34 ”,
for “the Employment Rights Act 1996 or” substitute “ that Act, on a complaint under section 70(1) of that Act relating to section 64 of that Act, ”, and
after “that” insert “ Act or for an appointment under section 206(4) of that ”.
After that paragraph insert—.
Omitparagraph (f) (which specifies proceedings in which the person bringing the proceedings has given written notice withdrawing the case), apart from the word “and”.
After subsection (6) of that section (which makes provision for employment tribunal procedure regulations to provide that any act required or authorised by the regulations to be done by a tribunal may be done by the chairman alone) insert—
and in paragraph (b) “appropriate consent” means either consent given at the beginning of the hearing by such of the parties as are then present in person or represented, or consent given by each of the parties.
After subsection (6A) of section 4 of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (which is inserted by section 3(6) of this Act) insert—
For section 87 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (which provides that a person who alleges that his employer has failed to comply with section 86 of that Act by wrongly deducting a political fund contribution or refusing to deduct union dues may make an application to a county court or sheriff court) substitute—
After section 212 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 insert—
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In section 288 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (subsection (1) of which prohibits contracting out of the provisions of that Act, but subject to exceptions specified in subsections (2) and (2A)), after subsection (5) insert—
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In section 203 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (subsection (1) of which prohibits contracting out of the provisions of that Act, but subject to exceptions specified in subsection (2)), after subsection (4) insert—
In each of the provisions specified in subsection (2) (which provide that, for a compromise agreement to be valid, independent legal advice must have been received from a qualified lawyer), for “independent legal advice from a qualified lawyer” substitute “ advice from a relevant independent adviser ”.
The provisions referred to in subsection (1) are—
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section 288(2B)(c) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992,
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section 203(3)(c) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
In each of the provisions specified in subsection (2) (which provide that, for a compromise agreement to be valid, there must have been in force a policy of insurance covering the risk of a claim against the person who provided the advice about the agreement), for “policy of insurance” substitute “ contract of insurance, or an indemnity provided for members of a profession or professional body, ”.
The provisions referred to in subsection (1) are—
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section 288(2B)(d) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992,
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section 203(3)(d) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.
In section 18(1) of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (which specifies the proceedings in relation to which the provisions about conciliation apply), in paragraph (d) (proceedings under the Employment Rights Act 1996), for “or 92,” substitute “ , 92 or 135, ”.
In section 166(2) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (which defines “employer’s payment” for the purposes of the provisions requiring the Secretary of State to make a payment to an employee whose employer is liable to pay him an employer’s payment), after paragraph (a) insert—.
In section 168(1) of that Act (which specifies the amount which the Secretary of State is required to pay in respect of an employer’s payment), after paragraph (a) insert—.
In section 110 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (which provides that the statutory right not to be unfairly dismissed does not apply to employees covered by a designated dismissal procedures agreement), for subsection (2) (which provides that the statutory right nevertheless applies in the case of dismissals specified in certain statutory provisions) substitute—
In subsection (3) of that section (which specifies the matters as to which the Secretary of State must be satisfied before designating a dismissal procedures agreement), for paragraph (e) (which requires a dismissal procedures agreement to provide for arbitration or independent adjudication where a decision cannot otherwise be reached) substitute—.
After subsection (5) of that section insert—
In section 184 of that Act (which specifies the debts which the Secretary of State must satisfy if an employer has become insolvent), in subsection (1)(d) (which specifies a basic award of compensation for unfair dismissal payable by the employer), after “dismissal” insert “ or so much of an award under a designated dismissal procedures agreement as does not exceed any basic award of compensation for unfair dismissal to which the employee would be entitled but for the agreement ”.
The amendments made by subsections (1) and (2) do not affect any dismissal procedures agreement designated by the Secretary of State before those subsections come into force.
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Section 126 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (which prohibits recovery under more than one provision in the case of an act which is both unfair dismissal and sex or race discrimination) is amended as follows.
In subsection (1) (which describes the circumstances in which the section applies), for paragraph (b) substitute—
In subsection (2) (which prohibits recovery under more than one provision)—
omit “two or three”, and
for “the other, or any of the others,” substitute “ any other of them ”.
Schedule 1 (minor and consequential amendments) and Schedule 2 (repeals) have effect.
Subject to subsection (3), the preceding provisions of this Act (including the Schedules) do not extend to Northern Ireland.
Section 1 does not have effect to amend any reference to a tribunal or office established under the law of Northern Ireland.
Section 1(2) and Schedule 1 extend to Northern Ireland so far as they amend—
the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975,
the Judicial Pensions Act 1981,
the Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992, and
the Judicial Pensions and Retirement Act 1993.
An Order in Council under paragraph 1(1)(b) of Schedule 1 to the Northern Ireland Act 1974 (legislation for Northern Ireland in the interim period) which contains a statement that it is made only for purposes corresponding to any of the purposes of this Act (other than those of section 1)—
shall not be subject to paragraph 1(4) and (5) of that Schedule (affirmative resolution of both Houses of Parliament), but
shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
The provisions of this Act (apart from section 16, this section and section 18 and paragraph 17(2) of Schedule 1) shall not come into force until such day as the Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument appoint; and different days may be appointed for different purposes.
An order under subsection (1) may contain such transitional provisions and savings as appear to the Secretary of State to be appropriate.
The amendment made by paragraph 17(2) of Schedule 1 shall be deemed always to have had effect.
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This Act may be cited as the Employment Rights (Dispute Resolution) Act 1998.
Section 15.
President of the Employment Tribunals (England and Wales) or member of a panel of chairmen established by regulations under section 1(1) of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 for employment tribunals for England and Wales.
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In column 1 of the Table in section 16 of the Judicial Pensions Act 1981 (which provides a list of judicial offices for the purposes of provisions about lump sums, widows’ pensions etc.), for the entry beginning “President of Industrial Tribunals” substitute— “ Any office pensionable under section 12 of this Act ”.
In section 17(4) of that Act (which makes special provision about lump sums for certain offices), for “the office of President of Industrial Tribunals, or any other” substitute “ any ”.
In Schedule 11 to the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (which specifies judges who are barred from legal practice), for the entry beginning “President of Industrial Tribunals” substitute— “ President of the Employment Tribunals (England and Wales) or member of a panel of chairmen established by regulations under section 1(1) of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 for employment tribunals for England and Wales ”.
After section 212A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (which is inserted by section 7 of this Act) insert—
In section 273(2) of that Act (which specifies the provisions which do not apply to persons in Crown employment), for “section 87(3) (power of court” substitute “ section 87(4)(b) (power of tribunal ”.
Section 288 of that Act (which restricts contracting out of the provisions of the Act) is amended as follows. In subsection (2B)(b) (which provides that a compromise agreement must relate to the particular complaint), for “complaint” substitute “ proceedings ”. For subsections (4) and (5) substitute—
In section 301(1) of that Act (which provides that that Act extends to England and Wales and Scotland), after “Wales and” insert “ (apart from section 212A(6)) to ”.
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Section 4 of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (which makes provision about the composition of an employment tribunal) is amended as follows. In subsection (1) (which provides that, subject to the following provisions of that section, tribunal proceedings are to be heard by the chairman and other members), after “Subject to the following provisions of this section” insert “ and to section 7(3A) ”. In subsection (3)(a) (which specifies the tribunal proceedings under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 which are to be heard by the chairman alone unless he decides otherwise), after “68A” (which is inserted by section 3 of this Act) insert “ , 87 ”. In subsection (6) (which makes provision for employment tribunal procedure regulations to provide that any act required or authorised by the regulations to be done by a tribunal may be done by the chairman alone), for the words from “, in such circumstances” to “tribunal may” substitute “ any act which is required or authorised by the regulations to be done by an employment tribunal and is of a description specified by the regulations for the purposes of this subsection may ”.
In section 5(1) of that Act (which provides for the payment of remuneration to the Presidents of the Employment Tribunals and to full-time chairmen of employment tribunals), at the end insertand .
Section 7 of that Act (which authorises the making of employment tribunal procedure regulations) is amended as follows. Omitsubsection (3)(f)(i) (which authorises the making of regulations about the persons entitled to appear and be heard on behalf of parties in tribunal proceedings). In subsection (4) (which provides that it is an offence to fail to comply with certain requirements imposed by an employment tribunal by virtue of regulations), after paragraph (b) insert, or .
In section 9(4) of that Act (which enables employment tribunal procedure regulations to provide that issues relating to the entitlement to bring or contest proceedings may be heard and determined in advance), for the words “any issue” onwards substitute “ separately any preliminary issue of a description prescribed by the regulations which is raised by any case. ”
In section 18(1)(b) of that Act (which specifies the provisions of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 in relation to which the provisions about conciliation apply), after “68” insert “ , 86 ”.
Section 21 of that Act (jurisdiction of the Employment Appeal Tribunal) is amended as follows. In subsection (1) (which specifies the decisions from which an appeal lies to the Employment Appeal Tribunal), at the end insertor After subsection (3) insert—
In section 23 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (which makes provision for complaints to an employment tribunal in respect of unlawful deductions from wages etc.), at the end insert—
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In section 122 of that Act (which makes provision for the reduction of the amount of a basic award of compensation for unfair dismissal), after subsection (3) insert—
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Section 203 of that Act (which restricts contracting out of the provisions of the Act) is amended as follows. In subsection (3)(b) (which provides that a compromise agreement must relate to the particular complaint), for “complaint” substitute “ proceedings ”. For subsection (4) substitute—
Section 219 of that Act (which enables the making of regulations for preserving continuity of employment etc. in the case of a person who is dismissed and then reinstated or re-engaged in consequence of action to which subsection (2) of the section applies) is amended as follows. In subsection (1)— Omit subsections (2) to (4).
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Section 15. Chapter Short title Extent of repeal 1992 c. 52. The Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Section 88. 1993 c. 19. The Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act 1993. In Schedule 6, paragraph 4(b) and the word “and” preceding it. 1996 c. 17. The Employment Tribunals Act 1996. In section 1(2), the words “; and the tribunals” onwards Section 4(3)(f), apart from the word “and” In section 5(1)(b), the word “and” Section 7(3)(f)(i) In section 21(1)(e), the word “or”. 1996 c. 18. The Employment Rights Act 1996. In section 117, in subsection (6)(a), the word “and” and, in subsection (8), the words “(in accordance with sections 118 to 127)” In section 126(2), the words “two or three” In section 166(2)(a), the word “or” In section 168(1)(a), the word “and” In section 203(2)(f), the words “before an industrial tribunal” In section 219, in subsection (1), the words “, in consequence of action to which subsection (2) applies,” and subsections (2) to (4) In Schedule 1, paragraph 56(5) In Schedule 2, in Part II, paragraph 18.