THE Public Committee in the House of Commons has proposed a number of controversial amendments to the Employment Bill.

The less controversial amendments include an award of up to 25% of a claim to a respondent where the claimant’s action is vexatious; excluding from the calculation of national minimum wage, tips paid to employees in the service industry and the creation of a Fair Employment Commission to deal with national minimum wage, employment agencies, health and safety and gang masters.

But the most contentious is a proposed change to the costs regime in employment tribunals.

The Public Committee has suggested that the losing party in a tribunal case should pay the winner their costs.

This represents a dramatic departure from the current Employment Tribunal rationale.

There is a case for such an amendment because many employers feel it is harsh that they are burdened with unrecoverable legal costs even when they succeed at tribunal.

These costs can run into thousands of pounds, so even if an employer is successful in a tribunal they can still face a significant bill.

CHARLES MILLETT is an employment law specialist at Morecrofts.