The number of redundancy pay claims accepted by the Employment Tribunals has increased by 76% to 19,000 in the year to April 1 2010 and a further 8,600 cases were accepted in the six months to October 1 2010.

However, why have we seen increased media interest in employment disputes in general and importantly what actions should companies take to limit potential damage to their reputation. 

Firstly, despite more redundancy claims making their way through the ET statistics only point to some of the problem. Take unfair dismissal claims for example. Some 50,900 unfair dismissal claims were brought by employees in 2009/10 but 12,200 were withdrawn, 22,400 were settled by Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) and 3,900 were struck out prior to a full hearing.  Of the remainder, only 5,200 were successful at a tribunal and, in respect of the successful claims, the median award was £4,903 and the average award £9,120.

So it is clear to see that the number of claims is not the only reason why the media is paying more attention to ET claims.

Employment disputes attract media attention because they have a very strong human interest element which is appealing to newspaper editors, who understand what their readers are interested in and what they can relate to. Claimants are often portrayed as victims in a David versus Goliath battle.

All reporters have a duty to their news editor and paper to find the most interesting (whether that be lurid or otherwise) angle of any story. For ET cases this will mean that the story focuses on the allegations of extreme bad behaviour such as sexual misconduct, drug misuse and any allegations of wrongdoing by the employer.

Of course some claims that are brought in the ET will prove genuine. However, media interest in a case often happens way before any evidence has been presented and therefore companies may find themselves losing the case – and their reputation – in the court of public opinion even if they are subsequently successful in the court of law.

Effective internal and external perception handling is therefore a necessity for those firms which are at risk of going through a high profile employment dispute or who face many potential disputes. The best prepared companies are those that develop processes and systems for communicating during crises and situations.

This process should start with an issues management team that includes the HR director, PR or marketing director and members of the board and/or partnership as necessary. This team should work together to ensure all potential disputes are highlighted early and planned for. A chain of command should be established where overall responsibility is clearly defined for both internal and external audiences. The next step is to prepare communication plans for all audiences that the issue might affect with key spokespeople assigned to each audience – for example, the HR director would approve all internal communications but might identify the HR manager or specific team leaders to communicate the agreed statement to individual fee earners or teams.

Internal communications can sometimes play second fiddle to external communications during a crisis but its importance should not be overlooked.  When claims are brought against a firm it will be likely that a number of fee earners or staff will be called as either claimant or defendant witnesses. It is vital that internal communication is provided quickly and accurately at all stages of the tribunal.

For the external audiences, the PR or marketing partner or director may lead all communication as it is always best to present only once voice when communicating with the media. The firm should also employ a staff and reception policy for dealing with external inquiries – this is something that is often ignored but which can lead to unapproved comments being ‘leaked’ to the press. The firm should also consider if they have fully assessed the media risk of the claim.

Often specialist PR consultants are brought in to deal with issues and crisis management as it allows the in-house team to deal with their day-to-day business running a large and complex organisation. Also, external consultants can also help to inject clarity into the situation by removing the emotion from what can be highly charged, emotive situations and act as a buffer between the client and the media ensuring the client’s relationship with the media remains intact once the storm has passed.      

By having this type of contingency plan in place firms can prepare properly for managing the information that is communicated around an issue in a controlled manner and, importantly, stop the dispute from turning into a crisis and severely damaging reputation.