Clause 29 - Statutory dispute resolution procedures
Employment Bill
3:00 pm
Mr Alan Johnson (Minister of State (Employment and the Regions), Department of Trade and Industry; Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle, Labour)
These are my last remarks on the issue, because we have spent a long time on it. The hon. Gentleman's suggestion would make matters much more complex and much worse for employers. By law, tribunals are required to take into account the size and resources of the employer. That is an important discretion of the tribunal. If we stipulated different procedures for companies with 100 employees as against those with 90, 11 redundancies would mean adopting a different procedure, as would the recruitment of 10 more staff. That is not a solution.
We have had an interesting and wide-ranging debate, and some important points were raised. However, the employment tribunal service and ACAS do a splendid job. I believe that when we look back in our dotage, we will say that we did the right thing, and that although it was right to express those fears and to say those things, the envisaged scenarios did not emerge. I hope that the Committee will agree to the clause standing part.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 29 ordered to stand part of the Bill.