Tribunal claims increase by 90% since the abolishment of fees!

The Ministry of Justice has released its latest round of data on Employment Tribunals and key figures show:

  • Single Employment Tribunal claims received have increased by 90%
  • Single Employment Tribunal claims disposed of have increased by 21%
  • The backlog of single Employment Tribunal claims have increased by 66%
  • Multiple Employment Tribunal claims received have increased by 467%

From the launch of the Employment Tribunal refund scheme in October 2017 to 31st December 2017, 4,800 applications for refunds were received, and 3,400 payments with a total value of £2.8m were made.

These statistics suggest that employers will continue to face a rapid increase in claims as employees are no longer restricted from using the Employment Tribunal process.

It is evident that this new advantage of being able to lodge an Employment Tribunal claim, is increasing costs for business owners and placing a significant amount of pressure on Employment Tribunals who have had to cut staff. In turn they are struggling to manage caseloads and as a result, outcomes are being delayed.

How can Employment Law Services (ELS) Help?

If you require employment law advice on any of the issues raised in this article, or any other employment issue give us a call today on 0370 218 5662.  You can also find out more about our fixed fee HR packages here and fixed fee employment law packages here, or get in touch.