§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will take steps to inform claimants and respondents in claims for redundancy pay and for compensation for unfair dismissal and in due course for remedies under the Equal Pay Act, the Sex Discrimination Act and the Employment Protection Act of their right to seek discovery of documents and further and better particulars of allegations made, prior to hearings before industrial tribunals.
§ Mr. BoothApplicants to industrial tribunals and respondents are already told of their rights to obtain further information and/or relevant documents from the other party in a leaflet (ITL 1) which is issued to complainants when they are first notified that they have been named as a respondent. A similar procedure will be adopted in due course under the Equal Pay, Sex Discrimination and Employment Protection Acts.
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§ Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Employment in how many, and in what percentage of, successful claims for compensation for unfair dismissal in which the claimant is unemployed at the date of the hearing the tribunal has adjourned the case with an interim order for compensation and leave to the claimant to re-apply if he does not obtain other work.
§ Mr. BoothI am not aware that any tribunal has made an interim order of the type suggested. Where a tribunal has made a finding of unfair dismissal and decides to make an award of compensation rather than an order for reinstatement or re-engagement it has to take into account both immediate and future loss incurred by the applicant as a result of the dismissal. Future loss includes loss of wages when the applicant is unemployed, and members of the tribunal are free to hear evidence and use their own special knowledge of the local employment situation to estimate what ought to be awarded for future unemployment.