Traffic Jams and Employment Tribunals

Last week, I saw Matthew Hancock MP’s (@MatthewHancockMP) comments welcoming the 79% reduction in Employment Tribunal claims and the thoughtful blog by Gemma Reucroft (@HR_Gem) in response. Since then, I have spent three days this week doing the Employment Law component of my CIPD qualification and it has weighed on my mind further.

The tone of the article by Mr Hancock bothered me and reminded me of how sometimes personal experiences can change your perspective in a moment, making you realise how quick we can be to judge people.

To illustrate my point, permit me to tell you a story.

Like most people, I have always found traffic jams frustrating, particularly as they would often delay my 45 minute commute by up to 2 hours when the M25 was closed. I would lament the waste of my time and my employer’s money, knowing I had far more useful things to be doing with my time, along with everyone else who was affected. “If only people would drive more carefully and considerately”, I would think.

Then, on the night of the Eurovision in May 2012, I caused a traffic jam of my own. I crashed into the central reservation of the M4. It was just one of those things. None of the usual blame factors applied: drinking, not taking rest breaks, talking on my phone. It just happened- two cars not seeing each other for a split second and then not being able to rectify it quickly enough. Thankfully, I avoided hitting the other car and no other car hit me.

However, the memory has stayed with me. Now when I slow to a traffic jam. I remember the words of the kind man, who helped me to safety and gave me a bottle of Cola to settle my nerves: “You’ll be ok. This is your worst day on the road.”

This has been true for me. My memory of that evening is one of gratitude: for the police who assessed the scene and took me to safety, the ambulance who assessed me, the passers by who stopped to help, McDonalds for staying open late so I had somewhere to wait for my family to pick me up, my family and employer for their support, my car insurance company for processing my claim so quickly. The list goes on.

I know that I was lucky and not everyone who has a motorway crash is ok afterwards. And I know that sometimes the person driving has been reckless and is at fault. But I do think the same point applies: this is their worst day on the road.

I think the same is true for those taking their employer to a Tribunal: this is their worst day in their working life. Yes, even for the “unscrupulous workers”. I say this because I learned a key lesson for me from my employment law course this week: people don’t go through the stress of the Employment Tribunal process if they have a better alternative.

Most of my fellow students could think of instances where their employer had treated them in a way that could have given rise to an Employment Tribunal claim, but didn’t do so. In most cases, it served them better to reframe it as a learning experience and move on to a new opportunity. Certainly, the Case Law that we studied, showed that the individuals involved had no other alternative other than to challenge their employers: they might never be able to work again.

At the end of my training, I felt grateful for the system that we have: for the politicians who make the law, for the Judges who interpret it, for ACAS, who provide Codes of Conduct and for employers who take their role seriously and invest in collating the appropriate evidence to respond to claims. I also feel grateful to the people who go through the emotional stress of pursuing their case. These people are amongst our most vulnerable workers, who have little choice but to pursue their case and make the working world better for all of us who have more options, or who are less dogged.

This is in part what attracts me to HR. The ambition to treat people as I would want to be treated, whilst not being afraid to make the tough business decisions. And to contribute towards re-designing how we organise the workplace so that more people have attractive alternatives when they find themselves in a vulnerable position.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10790715/Minister-hails-80pc-fall-in-employment-tribunals.html

http://hrgemblog.com/2014/04/27/unscrupulous-or-unsavoury/