Weekly Issue 278

Review of Employment Tribunal rules published

The former president of the appeal tribunal system, Mr Justice Underhill, last week submitted his review of Employment Tribunal rules to the government.

Box-ticking exercise

When dismissing someone by reason of redundancy, case law indicates that employers should rely on selection criteria that are objective and non-discriminatory. In Mitchells of Lancaster (Brewers) Ltd v Tattersall, however, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) said that Tribunals should be careful not to limit the criteria to those that can only be “scored or assessed” in order to avoid turning selection procedures into box-ticking exercises.

Red letter days

Anyone wanting to lodge a claim for unfair dismissal has to do so within three months of the effective date of termination (EDT) of their employment contract. In Hawes & Curtis Ltd v Arfan and Mirza, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) said that the EDT does not always crystallise on the date of summary dismissal.