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Compensation for R.H.E. Employees

24th July 1953, Page 45
24th July 1953
Page 45
Page 45, 24th July 1953 — Compensation for R.H.E. Employees
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By T. G. Field-Fisher Draft Regulations Provide fir Resettlement Payment, Interim Payment and Longterm Compensation : A Legal Authority Explains the Condition

IN accordance with Section 28 of the Transport 'Act, 1953, the draft scheme which regulates the compensation payable to employees of the British Transport Commission who may lose their posts or become adversely affected by the denationalization of long-distance road haulage, has now been published before being laid before

Parliament. .

The British Transport Commission (Compensation to Employees) Regulations, 1953. embody the scheme and they will require an affirmative resolution of both Houses of Parliament before they can become effective. Once they have been approved by Parliament, they will come into operation 14 days later, but they will relate back in their effect to May 6, 1953.

Three Kinds of Compensation

Compensation may take one of three forms; (a) A resettlement payment; (6) interim payment, and (c) long-term compensation. The general qualifications for any of these forms of compensation are one or more of the following conditions which a claimant must satisfy:—

fl The abolition of the position he holds or his dismissal for any reason —other than reaching the age of 65 (60 for a woman), misconduct or incapacity to perform his work—and not being offered by the Commission a reasonably comparable position. A job offered in another part of the Commission's undertaking or one in another part of the country does not for those reasons become unreasonably comparable.

(2) The dispensing with his services for any reason—other than for the reasons already given. This would cover cases of redundancy.

(31 The reduction of his "emoluments." This means pay plus all allowances legally recognized, plus all bonuses, gratuities, special pay, etc., that arc of a recurrent, as opposed to an irregular, nature.

(4) The suffering of any direct pecuniary loss (including loss of pension rights).

(5) The worsening of his conditions of service as a whole. If the employee is wOrse off in one aspect of his employment but better off in others, his conditions of service cannot be said to be "worsened."

Question of Qualification Once an employee of the Road Haulage Executive is satisfied that he can bring himself within one of the above qualifications, he can examine his entitlement to one of the three kinds of compensation.

To qualify for resettlement payment an employee must lose his post with the R.H.E. as a result of the disposal of that undertaking or of the reorganization of the Commission under the Act, and it must be lost within 10 years beginning on the date when the regulations come into force. • Moreover, he must at the date of losing it have been continuously in the employ of the Commission since December 31, 1951. Anyone who became employed after that date is ineligible, as is anyone who has left the Commission since that date, even if he rejoined later.

In addition, unless on the permanent staff, he must have been continuously employed in whole-time service for three years immediately before his dismissal. This means, for example, that someone who loses his job on November 1, 1953, will not qualify unless he first became employed before November I, 1950.

Full-time Work "Whole-time service" is defined as service after the age of 18 years to which at least 30 hours per week are devoted during which, as a term of service, no other paid work can be undertaken. It will not apply only to those persons who have been employed by the Commission for the requisite period, but also to anyone who, before becoming employed by the Commission, was employed in any undertaking taken over as a result of the Transport Act, 1947. or taken over by agreement, provided that such prior employment was in connection with any activity similar to those permitted to the Cmmission by the 1947 Act. This prior employment can be traced back through more than one merger or acquisition.

Employees of manufacturing companies owned by the Commission are in the same position as those employed directly by the Commission. The Minister has the power to pass any individual as qualified even if not fulfilling all these requirementS—an obviously necessary loophole for " hard-luck " cases.

Resettlement payment will be made for 13 weeks after the loss of employment, plus an additional week for each year of age over 45 up to a maximum of 26 weeks, and will be at the rate of two-thirds of the rate of" emoluments" drawn before dismissal, less two-thirds of any current earnings and any National insurance benefits payable to a person without dependants.

If the employee is not qualified for resettlement payment, he may fulfil the conditions for compensation—interim compensation in certain cases preceding long-term compensation. The general conditions are similar to those for resettlement payment, except that interim compensation will apply to those employees who have been in whole-time service for eight years continuously (excluding up to 18 months' sickness), who lose through obligation of their positions or dismissal, or whose situation is made worse or emoluments affected adversely.

In such cases, interim compensation is payable for up to 13 weeks for loss of position or dismissal while the Commission is dealing with the claim. The claim must arise within 10 years and be made within two years of leaving the service of the Commission, and in any event not later than two years after the cause of complaint arose.

Escape Clause

There is a saving grace, however, where the claimant could not reasonably know that he had a claim, in which case the two years' limit would run from the date when he could reasonably have known. No interim compensation is payable for loss of emoluments or worsened conditions of work. Longterm compensation will be payable up to the age of 65 (60 for women) and will be subject to a maximum based on net emoluments and length of service.

The amount of any sum awarded as compensation is subject to periodical review by the Commission at intervals of not less than six months. Similarly a claimant may request a review of an award if he considers that there has been a material change in the circumstances to which regard was given when the award was made.

The general scope of matters to which consideration will be given by the Commission when assessing compensation is (a) the nature and conditions, including its security of tenure, of the claimant's lost position and likewise of any new position be may since have obtained; (b) the extent to which he may have attempted to find other suitable employment, and (c) all the other circumstances of his case.

Appeal to Tribunal Provision is also made for appeal within three months of any decision to a tribunal against a refusal of compensation or of the amount awarded. The procedure which a claimant must follow in submitting his claim is in general set out in the First Schedule to the Regulations, but for the more detailed particulars of it one must await the publication of some further purely administrative instructions from the Commission after the regulations have become law.

Finally, it should be noticed that these Regulations do not deal with the question of pension rights, which are to be the subject of separate regulations still to be published.

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