Employment tribunal fees will be scrapped after UNISON wins a landmark court victory against the government.
Disability Rights UK welcomes this judgement because tribunal fees deterred disabled people from taking discrimination cases.
Under the Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal Fees Order 2013 people wishing to take a claim to an Employment Tribunal (ET) or Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) were required to pay a fee, which could be as high as £1200.
The Supreme Court ruled that:
“The Fees Order is unlawful under both domestic and EU law because it has the effect of preventing access to justice. Since it had that effect as soon as it was made, it was therefore unlawful and must be quashed.”
From today, anyone who has been treated illegally or unfairly at work will no longer have to pay to take their employers to court. The government will also have to refund more than £27m to the thousands of people charged for taking claims to tribunals since July 2013, when fees were introduced by then Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling.
Ken Butler DR UK’s Welfare Rights Adviser said:
“This important ruling will mean that disabled people will no longer be priced out of justice.
Statistics published by the TUC at the end of last year showed that the number of working people challenging discrimination or unfair treatment at work has fallen by 9,000 a month since the charge of £1,200 was introduced.
This included a sharp fall in challenges over disability discrimination (down over 54%).
While around 3.4 million disabled people are in employment, disabled people are more than twice as likely to be unemployed as non-disabled people.
The Equality Act 2010 protects disabled people during all aspects of their employment, whether at interview stage or in work.
Disability discrimination can take place at interview stage, in the terms and conditions of employment (or whether someone is offered employment at all), in promotion and transfer opportunities or when being made redundant or dismissed.
To ensure that disabled people can gain and retain employment, the ability to challenge discrimination via an employment tribunal must always remain free of charge.”
Philip Connolly policy manager of Disability Rights UK reaffirmed this view:
“Access to justice is a basic right. All our hard-won rights depend upon our ability to enforce them. I am delighted by Unison’s success in challenging the imposition of fees for Employment tribunals.”
If you feel that you have been a victim of disability discrimination, we would urge you to contact the Equality Advice and Support Service for advice and support: Phone: 0808 800 0082