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Single body dealing with workplace disputes - starting point for reform printable version

01 Jul 2011: posted by the editor - Ireland

Extract from address by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation,Richard Bruton TD at UCD Conference on dispute resolution regarding employment matters on 1st July 2011
High standards in the workplace requires a system where;
· both workers and employees understand their respective obligations within the system;
· compliance and prevention of disputes is recognised as best practice;
· credible enforcement and an effective, risk based inspection regimeprotects against abuses;
· accessible and timely adjudication where necessary.

The State currently has a complex system for the resolution of employment disputes and grievances and the enforcement of employment law, which has built up over the years. If we had a blank page, I doubt anyone would draft the system that we have today. The current system has evolved over a long period of time. It has evolved in a piecemeal fashion in response to European Union developments as well as the evolution of national-level social dialogue and legislative programmes as well as the changing nature of employment.

We must ask how effectively is that current system achieving the above objectives.

Users of the State’s employment enforcement/redress machinery face a bewildering array of options when seeking to initiate a claim:
o Around 30 different pieces of employment law and many more Statutory Instruments.
o Five redress/enforcement bodies
o At least six websites, including my own Department’s
o Upwards of 35 different forms
o A range of different time limits within which to pursue their claim
o A waiting time of anything up to 80 weeks, depending on which routeis taken.

The system is now so complex that even many practitioners are unsure about available avenues for adjudication. For many employers and employees the system is too complex and onerous, takes too long to navigate and costs too much.

A system that was intended to be informal has become extremely complex and individuals increasingly believe they cannot navigate it without professional help. Individual issues of complaint too quickly turn to adversarial hearings without first trying to find other solutions. Abuses go undetected, yet compliant businesses can still be embroiled in very costly hearings. Workers who deserve protection face unacceptably long delays for redress.

However, now more than ever, against the backdrop of severe resource constraints, we need to take stock of the institutional and procedural arrangements that have built up over time and have solidified in legislation. This Government is committed to reform of the public service across the board so as to protect standards of service as resources diminish by improving efficiencies and by rationalizing the structures of delivery to achieve this.

We need to see workers’ rights vindicated. Compliant businesses must be able to meet their obligations. The best way to achieve this is to have a simpler, more effective system. Reform presents an opportunity to achieve these goals, and at a significantly lower cost than the €20 million now being spent in this area.

There has been an emerging consensus in recent times that we should have a simpler structure and simplified and streamlined procedures. We must not discard the strengths that have served us so well in the past, but we must not cling to institutional arrangements that stand in the way of a better service. I believe that the simplest arrangement that most people would map out would be a single body dealing with workplace grievances and disputes in the first instance and another body dealing with appeals. I would like to use this as the starting point for reform.

There should be a single point of entry for all users of employment rights machinery. It would make sense that the Equality Tribunal, 90% of whose cases are workplace related, would come within this new single point of entry. That single point of entry would take over the first instance functions currently performed by the Labour Relations Commission, Rights Commissioners, NERA, the Equality Tribunal and the Employment Appeals Tribunal. The precise range of functions will have to be worked out in detail in the coming months. This will be particularly important with regard to the role of the two Tribunals.

This single point of entry would have a number of features, including:

· A process that would find solutions without need for formalproceedings.

· Provision of clear up-to-date information and advice to facilitategrievances and disputes being resolved at workplace level to thegreatest extent possible. A single website would be apre-requisite.

· The use of a common format to submit claims, ideally a single form,but certainly a small fraction of the number of forms currentlyused.

· Active case management and progression, including early checking ofthe facts, identification of mis-routed claims and earlyintervention in the form of telephone contact, and/or informalhearings and/or more formal mediation/ arbitration.

· Resources freed up for timely, risk based inspection and credibleenforcement.

I have been saying for some time that our mission is to promote well run enterprises, developing innovative products and services, employing more people working to high standards within sustainable markets. The reforms I am proposing can play an important part in achieving this objective.

Removing red tape, unnecessary costs and burdens on employers and protecting workers from abuses of their rights is an integral element of this mission.

Tags: employment dispute resolution

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