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Good relations

24th August 1995, Page 38
24th August 1995
Page 38
Page 39
Page 38, 24th August 1995 — Good relations
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Roy Hammonds had been a driver with Iceland for 11 years when he was sacked for making daily 21-mile detours to avoid a village. His dismissal in May has left him "gutted and disappointed" and released a wave of disenchantment among his colleagues at several other depots. Hammonds, 47, is to take his case to an industrial tribunal; the Transport and General Workers Union is is taking keen interest in the outcome (see news story, page 12). No company relishes the prospect of bad industrial relations. It's bad for business and, for a high-street name, bad for its image. So what steps can employees and employers take?

Disputes over contracts of employment and disciplinary procedures are two of the most common reasons for going to industrial tribunals—almost 60% of the 69,000 applications for industrial tribunal hearings last year were for unfair dismissal. An employee has the right under Section 54 of the Employment Protection Act to have an unfair dismissal claim decided by an industrial tribunal. Of the 4,000 applications for industrial tribunal handled by the Transport and General Workers Union each year, 400 reach a tribunal with the rest usually settling beforehand. More than 200 of the cases are for unfair dismissal; the rest result from discrimination matters, breaches of the Wages Act and equal pay

Most of the cases the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) is involved in arise from disputes over contracts of employment.

United Road Transport Union officer Roy Abrahams reports that most of the tribunals he is involved with are for unfair dismissal, followed by breaches of the Wages Act and breach of contract. In his experience hauliers are "pretty poor" on written contracts. They say they are so busy negotiating rates and are busy with other worries but that's no excuse for the omissions we come across," he says. "It's down to communication to a large extent. A lot of cases end up at industrial tribunal because of a failure to communicate between employer and employee."

It is best that a contract is written to avoid misunderstanding—but a verbal agreement is also legally binding. A contract comes into effect as soon as it is offered and accepted.

Contracts should contain: express terms; implied terms; custom and practice; company handbook rules; statutory rights; and collective agreements. Employee/employer disputes often occur when employers try to change drivers contracts of employment and impose changes without proper employee consultations.

In recent years many employers have found a need to change employees' contracts—particularly their drivers' contracts—as the recession has led to reduced turnover and encouraged them to look for ways to increase cut costs. That often means changes to working practices. In addition, Sunday trading has seen the introduction of annualised hours for supermarket contractors.

All this leads to changing contracts and one reason ACAS has seen a rise in breach of contract cases. Most cases of these cases occur when the company has not followed correct disciplinary procedures.

The maximum award for breach of contract is £25,000; unfair dismissal can cost up to £11000.

"You can only change a contract by agreement with prior consultation either with the individual or a representative, or by termination with notice and offering a new contract," says Chris Martin, senior industrial relations officer with ACAS.

"Consultation is often all that is necessary to get agreement and make employees feel involved," he adds. "Things go wrong when employers take a bullish approach and make far-reaching changes and they feel an aggressive approach is required. This is where relationships go badly wrong—and where people end up in tribunals."

The importance of following set procedures is stressed by TGWU's legal director Fergus Whitty: "You need procedures to deal with a breakdown in relations. Relationships won't survive for ever problem free. There will always be problems; that shouldn't depress anyone as long as there are procedures. I would advise employers to introduce systems of consultation—particularly when introducing changes—and then appeal procedures.

"A great many employees don't go to tribunal because they understand why changes are being introduced. Usually tribunals happen when someone is sacked," says Whitty.

Tribunals generally follow the ACAS code of practice on disciplinary procedures which are not there to sack workers but benefit employee and employer.

Disciplinary procedures set standards of conduct and performance of work: employees know exactly what is expected of them; they ensure fairness and consistency. Procedures should cover timekeeping, absence, health and safety, discrimination, use of company facilities, and gross misconduct. They should he unambiguous, non-discriminatory, readily available, explained to all employees, and reviewed periodically.

If you find you have a dispute looming get good legal advice immediately. If, after that, you are still determined to go to an industrial tribunal, he prepared for a huge amount of paperwork, a high level of stress, a long struggle and, especially, a long wait...

7 by Nicky Clarke


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