Employment tribunal claims based on the Blacklist Regulations

Under Regulation 7 of the Blacklist Regulations, workers have three months from the date of the act complained of in which to bring a claim for compensation in the Employment Tribunal.

Only three workers — Unite members Steve Acheson, Phil Willis and Paul Tattersfield — have taken successful employment tribunal cases and won compensation under the Blacklist Regulations. The highest payout was just under £24,000 which was paid to Mr Tattersfield, who won his case after a tribunal found that Balfour Beatty Engineering Services Limited refused to employ him because his name was on The Consulting Association blacklist. The award included amounts for loss of earnings, injury to feelings and aggravated damages. The Blacklist Support Group argues that blacklisting can result in workers losing earnings over many years, amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Failure to comply with the strict tribunal time limit for bringing claims is reported to be a main reason why so few cases have succeeded, with workers waiting too long before instructing a solicitor.

Another problem with the legislation is its failure properly to protect agency workers, as opposed to the directly employed. Agency workers are particularly common in the construction sector (but see Dave Smith’s EAT victory).