Employment Law Update (November 2008)

Employment Tribunals ordered to publish employers' details

Employers who have a claim made against them in an Employment Tribunal may find they get bad publicity and attract the attention of claims handlers following a recent adjudication by the Information Commissioner ("IC").

Currently, the identities of employers who have Employment Tribunal claims made against them are not made public until the case reaches a hearing.  The IC's ruling, made under Freedom of Information laws, will mean employers' names will be freely available.  This used to happen before 2004, but the rules were changed to protect employers from the bad publicity that could be caused by press coverage of spurious claims and from the unwanted attentions of claims handling organisations.  The Government may appeal against the IC's decision.

Mentor clients should remember to call the Telephone Advice Service when handling disciplinary matters or if they receive an employee grievance, to minimise the risk of employment tribunal claims.