Mary Curtis, who chairs the Jersey Chamber of Commerce human resources committee and also sits on the employment tribunal panel, says that there are still a number of employers who do not fully understand the law or how it affects their responsibilities.
Last month about 120 Chamber members attended two fully booked workshops focusing on the implications of the legislation, which came into force on 1 July 2005.
David Witherington, director of the Jersey Advisory and Conciliation Service (JACS), said that although the organisation always aimed to prevent matters getting to the tribunal stage, more than 100 applications had been made so far.
Of those, 17 employers had not yet responded to the claims.
Of the 84 claims referred to JACS, nine had been withdrawn, 39 were being considered and 16 had been heard.
In one case, the parties had refused to take part in conciliation.
Of the 13 cases in which verdicts had been given by the tribunal, nine employers had lost cases – four of whom had legal representation – and four employees had lost their claims (two of those represented by lawyers).
Unfair dismissal was the most common complaint (47), four involved constructive dismissal, 13 were wage claims and 23 claimed breach of contract.
