Video 17.2 Day in the life of a Tribunal Member

[NADIYA] If you experienced a serious problem at worksuch as bullying discrimination or unfair dismissal, your case might come to an Employment Tribunal, which is a court of lawthat deals with employment issues. Tribunals are managed by a specialistemployment judge, who is usually assisted by two lay membersI met employment judge Lorna Findlay in a previous filmI'm now visiting lay member Diane Hill.

Diane has a career background in Human Resources,this experience helps her see things from the perspective of employeesand employers. Diane has 20 years’ experienceacting as a lay member, which is a paid position. This role has led her to work in two other courtsin addition to the Employment Tribunal.

[DIANE HILL] My name is Diane Hill; I sit as a lay member in the Employment Tribunals. I've done this for 20 years but I also sit in two other courts: I sit in the Social Entitlement Chamber and hear appeal cases against disability living allowance and personal independence payments.As part of my role with the Employment Tribunal service, I also sometimes sit in the county court as a lay assessorand in those cases it's where you sit as an advisor to a judgewho's hearing an equality act case.

[NADIYA] Can you tell us more about Employment Tribunals?

[DIANE] In an employment tribunal the cases that we hear now are discrimination casesso what we will see will be that there has been some sort of discriminationagainst the individual in the workplace and if it comes to a tribunal itactually means that in the workplace the human resourcesdepartment and the managers haven't been able to resolve those issues. It may be that it's somebody who is claiming race discrimination,it may be that there has been some sort of sexual harassment, disability discrimination, age discrimination and you need to be able to listen to what those people are telling you and not make judgment.You need to have a very open mind, because if somebody is aggressive or they're shouting at you yelling at you, you just need to stay calm, be very nice. And although you may be thinking I would like to deal very differently with this person, you can guarantee that the moment thatyou decide to let loose somebody's there with their camera andnext thing you're on Twitter: lay member let's rip at so and so.So it's about being careful with your behaviour,and it's actually a learning point forthe employer as well although they may have dismissed the person fairly,it doesn't mean to say that they can't learn from what happened,so that other employees don't feel aggrieved in the same way.

[NADIYA] Did you know what career you wanted to follow when you were at school, what path did you take?

[DIANE] I started out in a fairly run-of-the-mill comprehensiveand I never actually thought I'd go into Human Resources as a job.I had a chance to move up the career ladder and became head of Human Resources at a professional organisation. At that time they were actually looking for people tobe lay members of the Employment Tribunals.They were looking for people who could bring the work environmentinto the courts so that when we're sitting on the panel of three,both myself and the other lay membercan actually tell the judge how things work in the actual work environment.

As I got more into my career and into the job that I do here.It made me want to study more and more, so when I took my career breakwith the children, I did a degree thenand was lucky enough to end up with a first class degree in business administration.I also then did some lecturing but because I always want to know what I'm talking about is correct, I did an Medand that was to help me with the lecturing,and then when the children were old enough for me to get back to school, I went back into Human Resources at a time when the employment law changed significantly, so because of that I went to do amaster’s in Law and Employment relations and it meant that I had to studyin depth how employment law was workingand a lot of people depended on me to get it rightbecause my employers didn't want to end up in the tribunalsbecause of practices that their managers had undertaken. And in a 35 year career I can actually say that I'm lucky enoughthat none of my employees ever came to tribunal.So we must have been doing something right.

[NADIYA] What tips would you give to somebody who wanted to become a judge or lay member?

[DIANE] If you want to become a lay member or a judge, just go for it don't let people tell you that it's something that you can't do.I happened to be in a very bad car crash and as a result of that I lost my jobsimply because I couldn't work every day. The traveling to work the travelling around.But there's a blessing behind every disappointment and the fact that I became disabledmeant that, when they were looking for people to work in the other chamber,as disability qualified members I could actually talk about how I'd had to change my life,the adjustments that I needed and something that's very simple to you and I, perhapsdoing your buttons up, is not so easy to somebody who's got really bad arthritis or MS.So don't let any disability put you off saying that you can't achieve.There's always a role for you and if you do have the experience of disabilityif you've worked in a field of discrimination. They are the sorts of things that you can bringinto the court because you're able to give live and real examples of what you've actually eithergone through yourself or that you've worked with other people that have done that.

[NADIA] You've achieved a lot academically, do all lay members have qualificationsor is experience equally important?

[DIANE] It's not necessarily about having a huge educational background it's moreabout you as an individual, it's about genuinely liking people, abouthaving the experience in the workplace that is relevant to the type of law that you want to go into.You've got to have empathy so that you can understand what people are telling you.But not put yourself into their place, so understanding the wider picture and you know coming to some sort ofconclusion about it. It's an interesting role and once you'vegot the experience of being a judicial officer,it means that you can do a lot of other things.

[NADIYA] Is the work varied?

[DIANE] There are so many different aspects to court, there's immigration, war pensions, traffic courts, disability, social entitlement.There are so many aspects of law that just need people with a bit of common sense,a bit of understanding, the ability to gather information and make sense of itand make a decision and you know that could be for you.

[NADIYA] Is sitting as a lay member rewarding?

[DIANE] At the end of every single case, you get a buzz because,you've cut through maybe six lever arch files stuffed with information.You've understood the facts of the case you can see what's happened on both sides. You've had that discussion with your colleagues and you know the decision that you've come to,is the right one. You've had no preconceived ideas and the judgment that you've made is legally sound.That's the reward, knowing that you are part of something that is helping toto change society really, because you're dealing with things that areunacceptable and making legal judgments about them.

[NADIYA] In the employment tribunal lay members and judges reach decisions collectively.Diane has a career background in Human Resources and personal experiences of disability.We've heard how she works in a number of different courts.I hope this gives you an insight into the wide variety of judicial roles.In the next film I'm meeting a judge from the Crown Court which deals with crime.