PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
EMPLOYMENT ACT 2002 (DISPUTE RESOLUTION) REGULATIONS 2004 (24 May 2005)

That this House notes that the Dispute Resolution Regulations which came into force on 1st October 2004 require all employees to use their employer's grievance procedures before applying to an employment tribunal; further notes the concerns expressed by the General Secretary of the TUC that the new measures will severely disadvantage non-union employees who cannot afford legal representation and that the well-established guidance and principles approved by the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords in discrimination cases include guidance that `few employers will be prepared to admit such discrimination even to themselves'; further notes that the courts recognise that victims of unlawful discrimination suffer injury to their feelings and that such injury can be exacerbated by having to relive the experience at hearings; is concerned that employees will be deterred from complaining about unlawful discrimination by the prospect of having to attend an additional hearing held under the auspices of the alleged discriminator and at which they will not have the benefit of legal representation; and therefore calls upon the Government to exempt those complaining of unlawful discrimination from the requirement to use their employer's grievance procedures before applying to an employment tribunal.

Sponsored by:
Mr Marsha Singh (Labour)