We refer to the letter, "Wrongful dismissal claims taken seriously and investigated" (July 28).
The letter suggests a misapprehension of the scope of the powers vested in the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM), resulting in a distortion of process.
The statutory framework for the resolution of employment disputes is set out in the Employment Act and Employment Claims Act.
The Employment Act allows an employee who "considers that he has been dismissed without just cause or excuse" to lodge claims at the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) subject to having first submitted a mediation request to the Commissioner for Labour.
The commissioner can reject a request only if the submission fails to comply with certain technicalities, the prescribed form, or if the claim amount exceeds the prescribed claim limit of $20,000.
Otherwise, the commissioner should send the matter to an approved mediator - TADM - for mediation.
TADM mediates these disputes, and if mediation fails to resolve the dispute, the matter goes to the ECT for adjudication.
The division of functions between the commissioner, TADM and ECT is thus clear.
However, the letter's authors, who represent the key partners in TADM, seem to view TADM as having a role other than as mediators. They say, for instance, that "the majority of employers have acted responsibly", a statement that is possible only if TADM sees itself as authorised to make such judgments.
TWC2's (Transient Workers Count Too) observation is that TADM acts as a gatekeeper, not as a mediator, when it makes decisions about the merits of a claim and whether or not it can go forward.
The letter acknowledges as much when it says "about three in four wrongful dismissal claims lodged in 2019 and last year were unsubstantiated, while the rest were resolved either through mediation or referred to the (ECT) for settlement. In the unsubstantiated cases, TADM found that employers had sufficient cause to dismiss employees for reasons such as poor work performance".
Is TADM deciding on the merits of cases when it is not its role to do so?
TADM's role is to mediate, no more and no less. It does not fall to TADM to assess, decide, or judge whether any employee has been wrongfully dismissed, or to call upon employees to "substantiate" their claims. The adjudicating role rightfully belongs to the ECT under the law.
Alex Au
Vice-president
Transient Workers Count Too
