Employment Tribunals to "name and shame" employers

Mark Minns, 17 May 2009

Employers that fail to pay awards made by employment tribunals will be "named and shamed".

For many employees, taking a case all the way to an employment tribunal hearing is both stressful and expensive. Many employees (rightly) feel that they have been treated badly by their employer, and if the employer is unwilling or unable to resolve the employee’s concerns outside of the employment tribunal, the employee often has little choice other than to take enforcement action.

However, an award made in favour of a successful employee is not always the end of the matter as employers sometimes choose not (or are unable) to make payment. This leaves the employee in a particularly difficult position as he or she could still be out of work, and could even have legal fees to pay.

The position for employees in this situation has recently been improved as employers that default on awards that are made against them will now be added to the Register of Judgments, Orders and Fines once enforcement proceedings have been commenced against them.

The aim behind this approach is no doubt to ensure that awards are paid sooner rather than later, and to provide the employee with the payment that was assessed as being payable in the employment tribunal hearing.

It is possible to search the Register (for a fee) and the hope is that by making these details public, employers will be more inclined to make payment on time. It will certainly not help employers if they appear on the Register and a search is made against them by credit reference agencies, banks and other public bodies.