Via Personnel Today comes news of a survey of 1,100 employers conducted by employment law firm, Peninsula, found that nine in 10 respondents would discipline staff if they were legally confident.

But, eight in 10 employers also feared a wave of employment tribunal cases following an increase employee rights.

In January, business secretary John Hutton announced a clampdown on unnecessary employment tribunals by pouring millions of pounds into conciliation service Acas. The move followed news of an increase in employment tribunal cases to 115,039 in 2005-06 to 132,577 last year.

David Price, head of employee relations at Peninsula said many businesses were so convinced that employment law is weighted on the side of employees, they were afraid to tackle disciplinary issues.

He want on to explain that employers are increasingly finding it difficult to apprach the area of discipline, afraid that they will become embroiled in a long, drawn-out process resulting in an employment tribunal. He added:

Employers also need to have a clearly defined disciplinary and grievance policy, in line with the statutory code of practice

If you are a Basingstoke based Business, or in North Hampshire, and have any questions relating to empoyee issues why not visit the employer legal service section of our website or call Nick Bowers on 01256 320555.