Guiding hand to help you with tribunals

May 15 2008 by Karen McLauchlan, Evening Gazette

BUSINESSES are being offered the chance to find out how an employment tribunal works and how they can avoid being taken to one.

The Evening Gazette and its sister paper The Journal have teamed up with Weightman Associates and Dickinson Dees LLP to stage a mock employment tribunal in November.

The event, at Hardwick Hall, Sedgefield, will let delegates find out about how a tribunal works and will also give them the opportunity to question legal professionals about the way the system works.

The number of employment tribunals has shot up in recent years. In 2006/7, 238,546 cases were registered, an increase of 15% on the previous year. Claims regarding unfair dismissal and equal pay were the most common reasons for filing a case.

“There are more tribunals than there have ever been. People are more aware of their rights and they also have more rights under the legislation,” said Tony Weightman, of Weightman Associates, a Newcastle-based management development company which works to promote positive employment relations.

“Whenever an employer dismisses an employee, there is always the opportunity that the employee will take it to a tribunal.”

The amount of employment legislation which companies must comply with has increased in the last few years to include ageism, along with other complaints such as sexism, racism and failure to pay the minimum wage.

Mr Weightman, whose business works with managers, employee groups and businesses going through change in the UK and abroad, has organised mock employment tribunals for a number of years.

“Businesses need to know how to avoid getting there in the first place, and the second reason to attend is to be confident when giving evidence. It reduces the anxiety about going into a tribunal,” he said.

The Evening Gazette’s business editor, Sue Scott, said: “Mock tribunals can be a graphic way to learn about the complex issues involved in an increasingly demanding area of managing staff.”

The event will involve solicitors from law firm Dickinson Dees, which has an office at Teesdale, Thornaby, acting for the complainant and defendant, plus a legal professional acting as chairman of the bench, supported by two members of the audience chosen to listen to the case.

Places at the event, which runs from 9.30am to 3.30pm on Tuesday, November 4, cost £150 + VAT and can be booked via Debbie Wilde on 0191 201 6393 or debbie.wilde@ncjmedia.co.uk

To download a registration you can visit www.nebusiness.co.uk/tribunal