Employers which send HR professionals to fight employment tribunal claims are allegedly facing growing bias from tribunal chairmen who would rather listen to trained lawyers, Personnel Today will exclusively reveal tomorrow.
Concerned readers, all of whom asked to remain anonymous, have contacted Personnel Today to complain that ìclear preferential treatmentî was being given to advocates from the legal profession. They also fear being ìblacklistedî in future claims if they choose to complain about the way their case was handled.
ìBoth a lay person for the tribunals and a manager at the tribunals office have advised me strongly not to complain about the actions of any tribunal chairman even if we consider their administration or their management of a case to be wholly inappropriate or blatantly biased,î one said.
ìTribunals have become a talking shop for the legal profession and an old boyís network with clear preferential treatment being given for claimants and against HR people like myself acting as advocates,î another added.
It is estimated that HR professionals represent employers in around a third of all tribunal cases
Judge Meeran, the president of the Employment Tribunals in England & Wales, insisted that any perception that tribunal chairmen are biased in favour of one or other party had no basis in fact.
Mike Berry, online news editor at Personnel Today, said: ìIt is hard enough for employers to win tribunals anyway as they are generally presumed guilty until proven innocent. The fact HR professionals perceive ëan old boyís networkí of lawyers in the tribunal system makes it doubly difficult for them.î
HR professionals face growing bias from tribunal chairmen
.
