'Deliver us from employment tribunal hell': employment law, industrial relations and the Employment Bill

This paper discusses the likely contents of the proposed Employment Bill, placing them in the context of what the government identifies to be a growing unease of employers at the cost, volume and complexity of cases brought to employment tribunals. The paper considers a number of common criticisms made of tribunals, suggesting that those which have most influenced government policy are misplaced. It--suggests that the proposed Bill is unlikely to succeed in simplifying employment law. It concludes that--employees have a great deal to lose, not so much from the envisaged reforms, but from a dynamic in--which government is encouraging business to demand further and repeated changes to the system. The paper was delivered to a Centre for Research in Employment Studies seminar in the Business School at the University of Hertfordshire in December 2007.