City employment partners have come out in broad support of fundamental changes to the UK's employment laws proposed by Business Secretary Vince Cable and intended to significantly reduce the number of cases reaching tribunal each year.

In a speech yesterday (24 November) Cable announced a consultation on the most significant shakeup of the UK's employment regulations in decades.

High on the list of priorities is cutting the number of cases reaching tribunal by requiring all claims to go through the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) before reaching tribunal.

Cable (pictured) said: "Workplace disputes are increasingly being settled through tribunals – over 200,000 claims last year. We are in danger of getting away from the principle that they should be the last resort, not the first option. But there is a widespread feeling it is too easy to make unmerited claims – and that the whole system militates against early resolution of disputes through dialogue rather than confrontation.

"To tackle these problems, and to remove the incentives that exist for employers not to hire, we intend to radically reform the tribunals system.Our plans are set out in the government's formal response to the Reducing Workplace Disputes consultation which we conducted earlier this year, and we estimate they will deliver £40m in direct savings to employers each year."

Other headline proposals include reducing the length of consultations on planned redundancies from 90 days to as little as 30 days; increasing the minimum employment period before an employee can bring an unfair dismissal claim from one year to two; consulting on the possible introduction of "protected conversations" between employees and their managers; reforming TUPE arrangements and reforming the regulation and policy in relation to sick leave and reforming the legislation in respect of whistle-blowers. It also includes a proposal for exempting companies employing fewer than 10 staff from employment regulations .

City employment lawyers argued the overhaul is unlikely to lead to a significant reduction in work, as any drop in unfair dismissal claims is likely to be replaced by alternative routes to claiming against employers – for example through discrimination claims. They also expect more work through proposals to change regulations for whistle-blowers.

Norton Rose UK employment head Paul Griffin said: "I think the changes to unfair dismissal laws are likely to see more spurious discrimination cases. A fee may help to a certain extent but that depends how it is positioned. If it is a lot of money then instead it may discourage claims of actual merit."

Mayer Brown City employment partner Bernadette Daley said: "These changes mark a significant shift in some of the most basic elements of UK employment law. They are aimed at stimulating 'talent liquidity' enabling companies to hire new talent and trim off the underperformers- as such they are likely to be welcomed by employers but will be met with considerable resistance from trades unions.

However they cautioned that ACAS is likely to be unable to cope with the significant increase in workload.

SNR Denton London employment team head Pauline McArdle said: "I am not sure that increasing the time of employment before an unfair dismissal claim can be brought is as beneficial to employers as the Government thinks. People are likely to find another reason to sue their employer if they feel they have been dismissed unfairly. Separately I am unsure about the proposal for all claims to first go through Acas, since I am not sure they have the manpower to handle this."

Ashurst employment head Caroline Carter said: "Employers will welcome the proposals to simplify compromise agreements, reform the Tribunal system and introduce Tribunal claim fees. The proposal that all claims will have to go through a process of conciliation before they end up in Tribunal would formalise what ideally should happen now in any event. This may, however, put too much pressure on ACAS."