THE intervention of the Attorney General’s chambers in government employment disputes has been criticised by a union boss.
Steve Salter, regional industrial organiser with the Unite union, says he cannot understand why government departments are requesting the assistance of lawyers from the AG’s office to defend claims at tribunals when the Office of Human Resources has its own employment advisors.
He says it is not only an unnecessary waste of public money but could lead to embarrassment for the government if a department which the AG’s office has been trying to defend at tribunal was subsequently prosecuted for breaches of employment legislation.
Mr Salter said: ‘The AG’s office should remain neutral in cases that have the potential to lead to a prosecution of a government department. This is an extremely serious situation that needs the full attention of the Chief Minister (Allan Bell).
‘Purely from a costs perspective it has to be a better use of tax payers money for the AG’s office to concentrate on the more important issues facing our island than wasting money on defending departments that could have broken the law.
‘This practice could cause a huge embarrassment to the government if it is allowed to continue.’
But a spokesman for government’s human resources department said: ‘We advise the majority of government departments, boards and offices regarding a wide range of employment related matters.
‘As part of this remit, the office advises, supports and, as appropriate, represents a number of government’s employers in respect of matters before the Employment Tribunals.
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‘Human resources staff across government have fulfilled this role effectively over many years, and continue to do so.’
He added: ‘Nonetheless, any applicant or respondent to a matter before the Employment Tribunal has the right to take specialist legal advice and also has the right to be legally represented at a tribunal hearing. Government employers are no different in this respect and are fully entitled to do so.
‘The Attorney General’s chambers advises government on a wide range of legal matters including the application of employment law and will, when requested, advise on matters before the Employment Tribunal. Chambers will also, as necessary, represent the relevant government employer at a tribunal hearing, in conjunction with managers concerned and HR staff.
‘However, Chambers has, in recent years, represented government employers on only two occasions before the Employment Tribunal.’
Mr Salter said: ‘The problems being faced within the Attorney General’s Chambers have been well published recently – particularly as the AG has been away from work for a long period of time due to illness which is extremely unfortunate given the workload currently experienced by that office.
‘As a union we would be confident to send any of our senior lay representatives into an Employment Tribunal to represent our members as necessary but it does not look as if the same can be said about the government’s Office of Human Resources.
‘The AG’s office has an obligation to advise the law makers, not the potential law breakers.’