Yesterday, after a challenge by UNISON, the Supreme Court ruled that the ConDem Government acted unlawfully when it introduced fees to bring claims for unfair dismissal or sex discrimination to Employment Tribunals.
Since 2013, workers have had to pay as much as £1,200 plus to have claims heard at Tribunals, and the Court found that UNISON's evidence showed that the fall in claims when fees came in was 'so sharp, so substantial and so sustained' that fees could not reasonably be afforded by those on low to middle incomes.
It also held that fees particularly deterred claims of low value which are generally brought by the most vulnerable workers. The Court added that the fees infringed constitutional rights - citizens' right of access to the courts, which is guaranteed by Magna Carta, was effectively prevented. The level at which the fees had been set also contravened 'elementary economics and plain common sense'.
Now, the Ministry of Justice expects to pay back over £32million to around 26,000 people who were forced to pay for the right to justice.
"This is a great victory for UNISON and the working class people" said Alec McFadden, manager of Salford Unemployed and Community Resource Centre "The Tory Government has once again been found wanting in terms of democracy justice and people's employment rights. The Salford Centre brought in over £1,000,000 per year in employment law cases up to 2013, but once the fees were introduced 70% plus could not afford to take their case to tribunal because they had lost their job and had no income.
"Last year a class action for 76 former employees of Star Global was taken to Tribunal and won, the joint tribunal fees were over £1,000 and we will now be claiming those fees back for our clients" he added "The Centre is now considering taking legal advice for the Government to establish a compensation fund for the hundreds of thousands people who were excluded, through poverty, from taking their employment law case to Tribunal."
The Centre will now restart work filing cases to the Employment Tribunal and representing people unfairly dismissed in Salford.
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