The Enterprise & Regulatory Reform Bill announced in the Queen’s speech includes plans to overhaul the employment tribunal system and transform the resolution landscape.

The bill is to enact changes already introduced by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) by secondary legislation with effect from 6 April. These changes included increasing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from one to two years, doubling deposit and costs orders, and requiring parties to take their case to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) for possible settlement before submitting a claim to the tribunal.

A BIS spokesman said that the bill is expected to be published in the ‘next couple of weeks’ and that before then no further details are available.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber attacked the proposals as ‘a bad boss's charter’.

He said that the UK 'already has the second lowest level of worker protection among the 36 rich countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the government has made it possible for employers to sack staff for no reason for up to two years from when they start. The government's own surveys show that excess regulation is cited by only 6% of small and medium-sized businesses as a big barrier to growth'.