The Employment Legal System

It is a striking feature of employment law that cases concerning individuals’ work issues will be dealt with by a tribunal rather than a court. And yet disputes about jobs are some of the most serious that can take place in a person’s life. It might be one thing for a legal dispute about the merchantable quality of an iron or a television to be dealt with outside the normal court system, but quite another for, together with family, the most important aspect of life and human relationships to be determined in such a way. This idea underpins each of the Debates in the present chapter. First, I pose the question as to whether the employment tribunal system is in need of reform. Then I examine whether the appeals process in employment cases could be improved.