The Government has confirmed it will increase to 2 years the minimum length of service required to bring a claim for Unfair Dismissal to Employment Tribunal, and will introduce fees of £1250 to be paid by all claimants granted an ET hearing.

From April 2012 employees will have to have a minimum of 2 years continuous service with an employer before being able to bring a claim for unfair dismissal. Chancellor Goerge Osborne, speaking at the Conservative Conference said the Government wanted to make it "much less risky for businesses to hire people" and wanted to help protect those who have built up a business from "seeing it destroyed by a vexatious appeal to an employment tribunal".

From April 2013 all claimants to an Employment Tribunal will have to pay a fee of £250 when submitting their claim, and will have to pay a further £1000 if the Tribunal grants them a hearing. This money would be refunded if the employee wins their case.

These proposals mark a serious attack on employee rights that many commentators feel are neither fair nor necessary. Exisiting legislation and case law already exists to penalise anybody bringing a false or vexatious claim to Tribunal, and many genuine claimants will be put off bringing cases for fear of not winning and losing £1250.

The proposals will tip the balance heavily in favour of unscrupulous employers seeking to exploit workers. Dismissing someone, whether by reasons of redundancy or poor performance is not difficult, and should be carried out fairly. Unfair dismissal is just that - unfair! Removing the protection against unfair dismissal sends the message that it's okay to dismiss someone unfairly, as long as they haven't worked with you for 2 years.