I have signed a parliamentary motion welcoming the Government’s intention to establish a Fair Work Agency to strengthen enforcement of tribunal awards.
We urge the Government to go further, and consider a more proactive and transparent enforcement regime that includes improved data collection and publication, clearer guidance and enhanced support for claimants, stronger coordination with HMRC and the Insolvency Service, appropriate powers to pursue company directors, measures to deter repeat non-compliance, and explore the potential merits of a compensation or guarantee mechanism to ensure workers receive tribunal awards where recovery from employers proves impossible.
The motion reads:
“That this House notes with concern the continuing non-payment of a significant number of awards made by the Employment Tribunal, including reports by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism that Freedom of Information requests found that three quarters of more than 7,000 workers using the employment tribunal penalty enforcement scheme did not receive their award; further notes that enforcement of tribunal awards is currently fragmented, largely claimant-led, and insufficiently monitored, with limited publicly available data on payment rates, enforcement outcomes or patterns of repeat non-compliance by employers; recognises that the non-payment of tribunal awards risks rendering statutory employment rights ineffective in practice; expresses particular concern at evidence that some company directors repeatedly preside over businesses that fail to comply with tribunal judgments, including through the use of insolvency processes and the establishment of successor or phoenix companies; also notes the disproportionate impact of employer insolvency on workers seeking to recover tribunal awards; welcomes the Government’s intention to strengthen enforcement through the new Fair Work Agency; and urges the Government, having established that Agency, to consider a more proactive and transparent enforcement regime, including improved data collection and publication, clearer guidance and enhanced support for claimants, stronger coordination with HMRC and the Insolvency Service, appropriate powers to pursue company directors where justified, measures to deter repeat non-compliance and phoenixing, and the potential merits of a compensation or guarantee mechanism to ensure workers receive tribunal awards where recovery from employers proves impossible.”
View the full motion, including the list of signatories here: link