A tip for HR Professionals…Read Employment Tribunal judgements!

Finding an hour a week to read an employment tribunal judgement can provide you with more clarity and confidence in the work you are doing in your HR role.

A written employment tribunal judgement will include:

• The issues the employment tribunal has to determine
• Findings of facts related to those issues
• A brief summary of relevant law and legal precedent, illustrating how the facts have been applied to the law.

So when you are pondering a scenario, wondering, ‘what’s the risk if this goes to tribunal?, ’past cases can offer a flavour of how similar situations have been decided in the past.

Understanding the legal context

Employment tribunal judgements are not binding legal precedents. However, a key element of English law is that of judicial precedent. This means that  lower courts and tribunals must take account of and follow the decisions of higher courts. This ensures that cases with similar facts are decided in the same way.

Employment tribunal judgements are  written in a much more accessible format than higher court decisions, designed to be understood by both employees and employers so they can understand why a decision has been made and the reasons for it.  They tackle workplace issues in line with applicable law, often relating to real-life scenarios you may encounter at your workplace. They are not complicated legal precedents analysing the law.

Insights from tribunal judgements

Reading judgements regularly reveals why cases may have unexpected outcomes, even those with relatively similar facts. You will learn the importance of witnesses in the process, their evidence, and credibility, which can win or lose a claim. You will also see the importance of having clear documentation in the tribunal bundle.  

Where to find employment tribunal judgements

You can search  for judgements on the UK Government’s employment tribunal decisions website. Search by party name, jurisdiction code, date, or key word. You can even set up alerts to receive decisions directly to your inbox.

Practical example: Mr P Krysinski V Asda Stores Ltd 2303463/2017

In this case, the claimant was dismissed for capability. He argued that it was unfair because the employer should have waited longer and obtained more medical evidence about his back problem before dismissing him. He felt he had been treated differently to another colleague with a bad back who had not been dismissed and a fair procedure was not followed.

The judgment helpfully takes you through the findings of fact in chronological order.

The judgement then tells you the applicable legislation and summarises the key case law precedents in this area.

It then applies the facts to the law to draw a conclusion. In this case, that the employee had not been unfairly dismissed because of his back condition. Noting in particular that in accordance with the case law it was not unfair because:

• He had been consulted with
• Medical professionals had also been consulted with
• Attempts to redeploy him had been made
• There was no foreseeable return to work date, and even for a large organisation this situation could not continue indefinitely.
• There was no evidence of inconsistent treatment.
• There was a procedural error but it was insufficient to render the dismissal unfair

Benefits of reading tribunal judgements

Establish best practice

You will began to recognise themes and precedents, and once you become familiar with the themes it will help you develop good practices in your workplace that add value.

Manage risk

Understanding tribunal judgements enables you to identify and mitigate potential legal risks. Analysing past judgements helps you anticipate potential issues and take proactive measures to avoid similar pitfalls.

Build confidence

Knowledge of key legal themes will allow you to make informed decisions in your day-to-day role that will allow you to build your confidence and establish you as a trusted person in your organisation. You can then supplement this with more in-depth, bespoke training on key topics that really affect your business.

Policy and peer development

Tribunal judgements often highlight  areas where policies and procedures have gone wrong. Awareness of this will help you recognise potential issues in your own company’s policies and procedures and avoid making the same mistakes.

Would you make time to do this?

How do you think it would help you?

If you have any questions about this or any other employment issues, please get in touch with us at ESP Solicitors.