Lodging of Employment Tribunal Amendment and Employment Law Amendment No. 3.

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A decision made (20/10/2006) regarding Lodging the Employment Tribunal (Amendment) (Jersey) Regulations 200- and the Employment (Amendment No. 3) (Jersey) Law 200-.

Subject:	Lodging the Employment Tribunal (Amendment) (Jersey) Regulations 200- and the Employment (Amendment No. 3) (Jersey) Law 200-
Decision Reference:	MD-S-2006-0063	Exempt clause(s):		public
Type of Report: (oral or written)	Written	Person Giving Report (if oral):		n/a
Telephone or e-mail Meeting?	n/a	Report File ref:		L:\General Information\Workgroups\Policy\Employment\Ministerial decisions\SD Lodge Tribunal Amendment 16Oct06
Written report – Title	Lodging the Employment Tribunal (Amendment) (Jersey) Regulations 200- and the Employment (Amendment No. 3) (Jersey) Law 200-
Written report – Author (name and job title)	Kate Morel, Policy Principal
Decision(s): 1. Approval for lodging of a draft amendment to the Employment Tribunal (Jersey) Regulations 2005, it’s accompanying report and resource and manpower statement. 2. Approval for lodging of a draft amendment and the Employment (Jersey) Law 2003, it’s accompanying report and resource and manpower statement. The Minister has also signed the necessary Human Rights Compliance Statement.
Reason(s) for decision: 1. The Minister approved a request from the Chairman of the Employment Tribunal to increase the rates of remuneration of the Chairman and Deputy Chair, in line with the daily sitting rate of Commissioners of the Royal Court, and also to amend the manner in which the Deputy Chair’s remuneration is paid proportionately to the Chairman’s rate. Two supplementary amendments are also required regarding the Appointments Commission’s role in the appointment of Tribunal members, and the limit on the number of Side Members that may be appointed to the Tribunal. 2. The Minister recognises that it would be inappropriate to refer in the Employment Tribunal Regulations to Orders which set the Commissioner’s rate. An amendment to the Employment Law is therefore proposed to enable the Minister to set the remuneration by Order in future, so that increases in line with the Commissioners rate may be made more swiftly.
Action required: Forward the documents to the Greffe, including a statement of Human Rights compliance, to be lodged for States debate at the earliest opportunity.
Signature: Senator P.F. Routier - Minister			Date of Decision: 20 October 2006

Lodging of Employment Tribunal Amendment and Employment Law Amendment No. 3.

Report to accompany the Employment Tribunal (Amendment) ( Jersey ) Regulations 200-

In proposing this amendment, the Social Security Minister’s main intention is to increase the rates of remuneration of Employment Tribunal Members; however the opportunity is also taken to achieve the following;

 To amend the manner in which the Deputy Chair’s remuneration is paid proportionately to the Chairman’s rate.

 To more accurately reflect the Appointments Commission’s role in the appointment of Tribunal members,

 To increase the limit on the number of side members that may be appointed to the Tribunal.

Increase Members’ Remuneration

When the Employment Tribunal Regulations were being prepared early in 2005, it was considered sensible to link the remuneration of people doing similar work and the rate paid to Commissioners of the Royal Court was deemed to be an appropriate comparator for the Employment Tribunal Chairman. The rate was therefore set at the Commissioners rate at that time - £686 per daily sitting, which had been effective since 1st April 2004.

Since that time, the Commissioners rate has increased twice (on 1st April, 2005 and 2006), and is due to increase again on 1st November 2006 via The Royal Court (Remuneration of Commissioners) (Jersey) Order 2006. There have, however, been no equivalent increases in the Employment Tribunal members’ daily sitting rates.

The proposed new daily sitting rates for Employment Tribunal Members, to be effective from 1st November 2006, are;

· Chairman – to match the Commissioner’s rate - £736

· Deputy Chairman - 75% of the Chairman’s rate - £552

· Side Members - increase equivalent to that of the Chairman - £97

The intention is to set at a rate that will attract and retain competent qualified people and to co-ordinate the timing and extent of tribunal increases with increases in the Commissioner’s rate in future.

Deputy Chairman’s rate

Having received advice from the Chairman of the Tribunal, the Minister was conscious that the hearing of Tribunal cases has been divided differently between the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman than had been expected.

When the Tribunal was first established, it was anticipated that the Chairman would take the more complex cases, however this has not been the case; it has proved impossible to allocate cases in this way and it was not considered appropriate to do so. Although the Chairman has more experience and has the final decision in certain matters, there is no distinction in their roles as far as the type of case is concerned.

It is considered appropriate to reflect the increased responsibility and workload assumed by the Deputy Chairman by increasing daily rate of remuneration from 50% to 75% of the Chairman’s daily rate.

The Deputy Chairman has taken on more complex responsibilities and workload since at least June 2006 and it is therefore considered appropriate that the remuneration reflects that and the Deputy Chairman is reimbursed as if the proposed increase to 75% of the Chairman’s rate had been effective since 1st June 2006.

Role of Appointments Commission

Article 3 of the Regulations, as currently drafted, provides that Tribunal members are appointed by the States on the recommendation of the Jersey Appointments Commission, and that before making a recommendation, the Appointments Commission will consult the Social Security Minister.

The Appointments Commission's remit is to ensure that appointments to the public service and public bodies are properly made. Its focus is on the propriety and fairness of recruitment processes and whilst it is often required to participate with employers in the definition and advertising of posts and the selection of candidates, it does not on its own recommend individuals.

The Chairman of the Appointments Commission has advised that the procedure set out in the Regulations should be reversed, so that the Minister makes recommendations about appointments, after consulting with the Appointments Commission. The Minister wishes to take the opportunity to make this amendment in order to more accurately reflect the process.

Pool of Tribunal members

The Employment Tribunal Regulations, as currently drafted, place limits on the number of Tribunal Side Members that may be appointed; being not fewer than 2 and not more than 6 members each of employee and employer representatives (a total of 12 members). The Tribunal has, on occasion, experienced difficulties in forming a panel of three members to hear cases due to limits on members’ availability (either because of other commitments or limits imposed by their employer) and conflicts of interest often occurring. This has raised some concern as to whether members can be adequately rotated for hearings and an overload of hearings for some members.

The Minister wishes to provide more flexibility by increasing the maximum number of members that may be appointed in each pool of side members from six to eight, in order to allow the Tribunal to appoint four new members, as necessary.

Resource and Manpower Statement

The Minister is confident that existing budget levels for the Employment Tribunal can be managed and remain adequate to fund the proposed increases in remuneration.

As and when necessary to cover the case load of hearings, the Employment Tribunal will recommend up to four additional Side Members as office holders, following the required recruitment and selection procedure.

Report to accompany the Employment (Amendment No. 2) ( Jersey ) Law 200-

When the Employment Tribunal Regulations were being prepared in early 2005 and the rates of remuneration for Employment Tribunal members were under discussion, it was considered sensible to link the remuneration of people doing similar work and the rate paid to Commissioners of the Royal Court was deemed to be an appropriate comparator for the Employment Tribunal Chairman. The rate was therefore set at the Commissioners rate at that time - £686 per daily sitting, effective from 1st April 2004.

Since the Tribunal Regulations were drafted, the Commissioners rate has increased twice (on 1st April 2005 and 2006), and is due to increase again on 1st November 2006. The Tribunal Chairman’s rate however has not increased.

The Minister recognises that it would be inappropriate to provide in the Employment Tribunal Regulations that Tribunal members’ remuneration is related to the remuneration of a Commissioner. In practice, this would provide that the Minister for Treasury and Resources determines the Tribunal member’s remuneration, rather than the States.

The Minister considers that increasing the remuneration of Tribunal members from time to time by amending Regulations is unnecessary and time consuming and may lead to the Tribunal members pay falling behind the Commissioners rate, which is set by Order, and which is at a rate that will attract and retain competent qualified people.

The Minister therefore promotes this amendment to the Employment Law to allow Tribunal members’ remunerations to be determined by the Minister by Order.

Resource and Manpower Statement

There are no resource or manpower implications arising from this amendment.