This article is from page 3 of the 2009-08-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
THERE has been a huge increase in the number of cases coming before the Employment Appeals Tribunal and multiple job losses are poised to ensure this trend continues.
That’s according to Gearoid Howard, a Shannon-based solicitor who specialises in employment law.
He said that employees are becom- ing increasingly aware of their rights in the workplace, and as a result, the Appeals Tribunals workload has in- creased significantly. It takes up to 40 weeks for cases to be heard, on
average, while the vast majority of cases are swung in the favour of em- ployees.
“A lot of the time, people feel they have been selected unfairly for re- dundancy. That accounts for a lot of cases before the Employment Ap- peals Tribunals. At the moment I am being asked for advice from people about that from employers and em- ployees,”’ said Mr Howard.
“Times are tough. Employees are becoming a lot more sophisticated and educated than they used to be. They are looking for their avenues of redress. It is very difficult from an
employers’ point of view,” he said.
The trend, traditionally, for disgrun- tled employees was to take cases to the Employment Appeals Tribunal, but this has changed somewhat. “
The usual avenue was the Employ- ment Appeals Tribunal, but more often than not now people are going to the Equality Tribunal,” said Mr Howard.
The Appeals Tribunal calculates what the winner in a case is entitled to, through a mathematical computa- tion. However, the Equality Tribunal is not subject to the same limitations. ‘That is the stark reality for employ-
ees,’ said Mr Howard.
As the number of cases before tri- bunals is increasing, Mr Howard has noticed one trend. “In my own expe- rience, the success rate is 95 per cent for employees,” he said.
“Many years ago, an employer would have only come to me when they received a date for a tribunal, but now I am finding I am being ap- proached earlier in the process. Em- ployers are aware of the process,” he added.
The downturn in the economy has played a critical role in the increase in demand for tribunals of this na-
ture.
me WTKom ELON MNO Com Iloroems Kem MED OMB Ele past. You could leave one job today and get another tomorrow. The eco- nomic climate has changed dramati- cally and competition for jobs is phe- nomenal,” said Mr Howard.
He said that cashflow problems have also filtered through and create huge issues. “I have employers who have let people go months ago and they are still waiting to receive re- bate from the social insurance fund. When it turns to the Government to refund, that refund is taking a very long time,” said Mr Howard.