Workers 'trying their luck' as grievance claims rise

Unjustified disadvantage cases are up 26 per cent as employees increasingly "try their luck" during recessionary times, the Northern Employment and Manufacturers Association said.

Figures out today show the number of personal grievance claims rose by 11 per cent last year, driven by increasing numbers of employees claiming unjustified disadvantage.

The figures are from EMA's annual analysis of Employment Relations Authority decisions.

EMA northern employment services manager David Lowe said unjustified disadvantage was an easier claim for employees to win, and was often used when an employee didn't have a chance of winning a dismissal claim.

Nearly half of all grievance cases were unjustified disadvantage, with an average payout of $5204.

"I think people are trying their luck during recessionary times and that one of the tools they may have in their tool kit when trying to make ends meet after losing their job is this, when it really should be about justice," Lowe said.

"However, if people genuinely believe they have been dealt with unfairly then they have the right to get that checked."

Lowe said the personal grievance system was a major headache for employers and it was becoming increasingly difficult for bosses to "get it right".

"Employers just want to do the right thing, but it's hard to know what the right thing do to is," he said.

Lowe said he hoped a Government review into the personal grievance law would provide employers with some certainty.

He said the average cost for an employer to successfully defend a claim was now almost $10,000.

Employers were paying thousands of dollars as 'go away money' for meritless claims because they couldn't afford the risk or the cost of a court case, he said.

Lowe said the EMA wanted this "American-style practice of ambulance chasers" banned, as part of the Government's review.

"These bounty hunters don't charge their clients but instead take a large slice of any money paid," he said.