Registration for this conference will close on Tuesday 21 October 2025

Admission: £30.00

The History & Policy Trade Union and Employment Forum presents: Industrial/Employment Tribunals – 60 years on

In 1965 legislation was passed which introduced the process for individual disputes to be resolved through a tribunal system. The proposal arose from the Donovan Commission Report and since then the system has evolved into a wide-ranging process dealing with individual disputes at the workplace. 

This conference is being organised by the History & Policy Trade Union & Employment Forum, which focuses on policy in the past and lessons to be learnt in the future.  We have brought together an experienced group of academic and practitioners to explore the development of the tribunal system and to pose the question “Does the system continue to provide fair access to justice for workers”.  There will be opportunity for active participation by the audience. 

The conference will look at the history of tribunals in the UK and other European countries and how they have expanded over the years. It will also look at the effectiveness of the system and whether it delivers justice for workers.  The conference will then examine the system in the context of changes in employment structures in the 21st century and what, if any, changes are necessary to deliver a fair and just system. 

Both trade union and legal representatives will be speaking as will a Regional Employment Judge.  Academics who have specialised in this field of employment relations will provide the background to the history of Tribunals over the past 60 years.

Confirmed Speakers and topics:

• Tribunal History – Professor Susan Corby (Greenwich University). Susan will provide a summarised history of the shift from collective to individual dispute resolution and the part played by the introduction of the tribunal system in 1965. Susan will also be able to bring into this introduction comparisons with other European systems of dispute resolution. 
• Key changes in Tribunals during the 20/21st centuries – Professor Adrian Williamson KC. Adrian will examine the expanding role of tribunals over the latter part of the 20th century and will also comment upon the potential impact of the new Employment Bill.
• The early years 1975 -95 of representation for workers by trade unions – Dennis McWilliams (A former UCW/CWU Regional Secretary for the Midlands and an IT/ET member). Dennis will speak about his experiences in representing members at tribunals
• The Move to legal representation – Madeline Stanley (Old Square Chambers). Madeline will look at the role of legal representatives from a modern perspective in the light of the original Donovan Commission intention to provide an informal process. She will also draw attention to the contribution that tribunals have made to the development of employment law through case law.
• The failure to pay the awards won by claimants – Emiliano Mellino (senior reporter at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism). The Bureau has recently published an investigation into on the thousands of claimants who didn’t get their awards, even after the government intervened on their behalf. The presentation will cover the difficulties claimants face in getting their tribunal awards after they win, the steps companies take to not pay, the huge gaps in enforcement of employment tribunal awards and how this all fits in with the Employment Rights Bill.