Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.
As part of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 1998 Survey of Employment Tribunal Applications (SETA98 - held at the UK Data Archive under SN: 4894), a supplementary 'spin-out' survey of professional advisors/representatives was undertaken, thereby providing an opportunity to consider first-hand the views of practitioners. Key issues in the Survey of Representatives (SOR98) were: to examine the role of these external advisors; their influence on the outcome of the case; and their relationship with Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) conciliators. SOR98 was a supplementary component of the main SETA98 study. The survey was administered (by computer assisted telephone interviewing) in cases where the main jurisdiction was either unfair dismissal, breach of contract, or Wages Act, and where the main survey participant either took advice or used external representation and also gave permission for their representative to be approached. Both the main survey and SOR98 were conducted by Social and Community Planning Research (SCPR – now the National Centre for Social Research). Sampling resulted in 452 productive interviews, 305 with applicant representatives and 147 with employer representatives (constituting a response rate of 70 per cent of cases deemed eligible). Representatives were found to be influential in determining case outcomes through their role in advising clients on case merits and courses of action. The data provide evidence of the efforts made by ACAS conciliation officers to promote settlement, and their skill in remaining impartial and securing the trust of representatives. High levels of satisfaction were reported both with the Employment Tribunal system and its agents or agencies.
Main Topics:
In total the data contains 305 productive interviews with applicants and 143 interviews with employers. These cases can be linked to information on the applicant or employer respondent in the main SETA98 study (see under SN: 4894). Topics covered included background to the dispute, outcome, cash settlements, tribunal orders, employer representation, advisor/representative characteristics, advice given, ACAS individual conciliation officers, compromise agreements, representation on opposing side, satisfaction with ACAS/Employment Tribunal Services (ETS), full tribunal hearings and other issues. Unfortunately several problems with the programming of the computer assisted telephone interviewing software (Blaise) used to collect the data has meant that information is not always of a quality which might be hoped for in such a study. In general however, these problems relate to a small number of variables and cases. Information on the caveats can be found in the supporting documentation. Users are advised to read the documentation very carefully before using these data.
No sampling (total universe)
as a follow-up to SETA98 the base coverage is the same - the original sampling frame was derived fr
Telephone interview
