Responding to the changes to the employment tribunal system announced yesterday, TUC General Secretary John Monks said, “The increase in the number of tribunal cases has little to do with the current system. Instead it reflects the fact that too many employers, particularly in the small business sector, do not understand that with the right to employ people goes the responsibility to treat them fairly.

“This means having the kind of personnel procedures common in companies that recognise unions. Some of the changes announced today make sense, but it would be a mistake to think that there are huge number of vexatious cases. We will be monitoring the impact of the reforms very closely, and if there is any evidence that genuine cases are being deterred, we will protest most strongly.

“But the real lesson to be drawn is that staff working for employers who do not recognise unions can only go to the legal system to settle disputes. Employers that reject a union voice run the risk of costly tribunal cases if they act unfairly.”