Guest post: "Your stories of maternity discrimination are crucial to helping others"

[MumsnetGuestPosts]

Have you suffered from maternity discrimination or other issues at work but felt unable to bring a claim because of the cost of going to an employment tribunal?

We're a group of barristers who are concerned about the effect of employment tribunal fees on those who might otherwise have tried to access justice in employment cases, and we’re trying to gather evidence to submit to an inquiry which has recently been launched by an influential group of MPs. Are you willing to share your story with us?

Here's the background: in July 2013 fees were introduced in employment tribunals, meaning that someone who wants to make a complaint about their treatment at work now has to pay a fee to start a claim - and a further fee to go to a hearing (up to £1200 in total). One issue the Government has asked for evidence about is whether the introduction of these fees has affected access to justice. Have people who might have good claims been put off starting them because it's just too expensive?

What we know for sure is that far fewer people are bringing employment tribunal claims as a result of the fees. If you look at the numbers before and after the introduction of fees, there has been something like a 70% drop in the number of people bringing claims - and the drop seems to be especially steep in relation to sex discrimination claims. These were 91% down in one quarter.

This is at a time when a recent survey by the Equality and Human Rights Commission suggests that as many as 54,000 new mothers a year may be dismissed or treated so poorly they feel compelled to resign.

But the Lord Chancellor, Michael Gove, has said that these figures alone aren't enough – he wants to see specific examples, which is why your stories are so crucial.

"A simple reduction in the number of people going to employment tribunals is not in itself proof that there has been any injustice visited on anyone... I'd have to see whether or not there was an example of people, or an individual, who had been dismissed, who hadn't had appropriate access to justice as a result, and that hard case, or those hard cases, would lead me to think again… but there is no evidence yet that the bar being set at a higher level has meant that meritorious claims by people who feel that they are being discriminated against aren't being heard."

Are you that hard case? We’d really like to hear from people who have suffered from maternity discrimination (or indeed other types of discrimination or unfair dismissal) at work but have not brought employment tribunal claims because of the expense. You can read more about the Inquiry here and more about who we are here. And you can contact us by emailing [email protected]. The deadline for submissions to the Inquiry is 30 September, so we'd like you to get in touch as soon as possible - rest assured that we wouldn't use your name or identifying details in our submission.

[Ahardmanisgoodtofind]

Silly question, Do you want people to email with their experiences or just comment?

[JosephineMumsnet]

Hi, best bet is emailing [email protected] to make sure your evidence is included. Do feel free to comment here though as well if you wish.

[MrsHathaway]

My comment is that this reads like an ambulance chaser.

[mrsc118]

Yes it happened to me. It wasn't soley the cost it was also because my husband also worked there which made it difficult to rock the boat. The boss is and was a very sly, nasty piece of work.

[Vix286]

What about fee remission for those on benefits or low wages?

I can't claim to know the criteria or succes rate for those applications but there is a mechanism for people to have one fees fully waived or reduced.

Don't get me wrong, I can't bear what the Tories have done to the system and disagree with it, but this post is misleading.

Genuine cases that win will get their fees paid back by the defendant as part of their settlement.

[gallicgirl]

I'm not sure there are reductions for the low-waged. The fee to bring an initial case for discrimination is £250.
You also have to bring a claim within 3 months of work ceasing so chances are most people who need to make a claim to the employment tribunal, wouldn't have a spare £250 to hand because they're not working.

As to the comment about ambulance chasing, this is rubbish because of the 3 month time limit. Unless the law is changed retrospectively then there is no financial benefit to this firm. However, it could benefit future claimants if the MOJ sees that sufficient numbers have failed to receive justice because of the fees.

[gallicgirl]

ok- you get fees remitted if you're in receipt of certain benefits, namely income based JSA or IS. However, you would get contributions based JSA for the first 26 weeks after ceasing work......

In order to get full fee remission, a couple would have to have a GROSS monthly income less than £1245, it rises according to the number of children you have and above this amount you get part remission.

As I said, I suspect few people would qualify for reduced fees.