HC Deb 14 January 2002 vol 378 cc40-1W
Lynne Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make it her policy to(a) provide employees with a direct right to claim compensation from an employer on the grounds that no written statement of his or her employment terms and conditions exists, (b) oblige employers to provide employees with relevant information in disputes over payments or other entitlements, (c) entitle the parties in employment disputes to access to specialist advice through the legal services commission and (d) set up a Fair Employment Commission. [26439]

Alan Johnson

Providing employees with a right to compensation where the only issue is the absence of a written statement might encourage speculative claims where no real damage had been suffered. However, the Employment Bill, currently before Parliament, includes a proposal for employment tribunals to increase awards in cases brought under certain jurisdictions where it becomes evident that there was no written statement or that it was defective, and I believe this will do much to encourage compliance.

Information about the redress available to workers who are in dispute about statutory employment rights, including a range of free booklets on employment rights published by my Department, is widely available from Citizens Advice Bureaux, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service and other sources. My Department has no plans to require employers to provide such information themselves or to set up a Fair Employment Commission. The Community Legal Service (CLS), administered by the Legal Services Commission, was launched to improve access to good quality legal and advice services throughout England and Wales, and this incudes access to advice on employment law issues. The CLS Fund provides for advice and assistance in all areas of employment law as well as representation before the Employment Appeal Tribunal, subject to the standard means and merits tests. It does not however provide for representation before Employment Tribunals. The Lord Chancellor will not make any decisions on extending CLS funding to representation at employment tribunal proceedings until the responses to the consultation on Sir Andrew Leggatt's review of tribunals have been fully analysed.