17 February 2005

BPIF Legal “end of year” report shows high-quality Employment Representation

In 2004-5 the BPIF Legal team achieved positive outcomes on 86% of the 60 tribunal cases conducted for BPIF platinum members who receive the service as part of their annual subscription. BPIF Head of Legal Anne Copley highlights how the value of platinum membership is effective insurance against the risks of the escalating costs of dealing with tribunals: “Being a BPIF platinum member automatically entitles you to excellent advice and access to best practice in HR which should reduce the possibilities of being taken to tribunal. In the rare cases where employees will persist with tribunals the BPIF Legal Team has been highly successful in achieving a positive outcome saving companies thousands of pounds.” It is not unusual for a Tribunal case to incur costs of up to £10,000 for a single day in court. BPIF Platinum membership for a company with 40-50 members is under £3,500. Statistics available from the Employment Tribunals show that nationwide average awards during the year to 31st March 2004 included: · unfair dismissal - £7,275 (2002/2003 - £6,776) but most of the 2,843 unfair dismissal awards were below £4,000 · race discrimination - £26,660 (£27,041 - 2002/2003) · sex discrimination - £12,971 (£8,787 - 2002/2003) · disability discrimination £16,214 (£10,157 - 2002/2003) In Unfair Dismissal cases (far and away the most numerous) BPIF figures reflect these figures, though as Anne says “It only takes one large award to mask the fact that we are able to minimise our members’ exposure in most cases” Anne highlights in particular the team’s success rate with dismissed, withdrawn or ‘struck-out’ cases. “Unlike lawyers charging hourly rates, subscription providers of legal services are motivated to achieve the most cost-effective solution to cases. Where members have clearly been following our guidance and adopting good practice we make every endeavour to persuade the Claimant to withdraw, as the drive for ‘my day in court’ really only benefits the lawyers. Our statistics show that we were successful in obtaining such withdrawals in 17% of cases.” Of the tribunal cases brought against member companies less than a third make it to court. The BPIL Legal Department also dealt with 400 other queries ranging from company details required on business documents through breach of copyright, company takeovers, insolvency, breach of contract and defective product cases. Currently the Department is only able to give initial advice on these queries, although that may still mean several hours work. Much of the work in fact turns out to be helping members to strategise and prioritise, using the traditional legal skills of focussing on core issues and basic risk analysis. Thus the key ingredient is to adopt a business-orientated approach to problems and their solutions. For more information about BPIF Legal please contact Anne Copley on 01454 333 346.