Increase in Employment Tribunal Claims

Caroline Cobain
Legal Director
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The Ministry of Justice has recently revealed statistics for the number of claims raised in the Employment Tribunal (ET) from April to June 2018.

Unsurprisingly, subsequent to the abolition of tribunal fees in July 2017, there has continued to be a notable increase in the number of claims received by the Employment Tribunal service.

The statistics disclosed that 82% of cases (4,145 applications) for the quarter were initially raised in England and Wales. This is an increase of 75% increase on the previous quarter. The other 18% of claims for the quarter (908 applications) were initially brought in Scotland.

Breaking the applications down, 42,700 multiple claims were received. This is an increase of 344%, looking at the same quarter last year. The number of single claims lodged have also increased by 165%.

The Judicial Appointments Commission is in the process of recruiting 54 new Employment Tribunal judges to deal with the surge in claims.

Further changes could also be afoot for Employment Tribunals. In September 2018, the Law Commission issued a consultation paper, entitled ‘Employment Law Hearing Structures’, which proposes a number of reforms to the Tribunal system, including extending time limits for making complaints to the ET and giving the Tribunal wider powers to consider and decide upon breach of contract claims.

The consultation is currently open and closes on 11 January 2019. If you wish to read the consultation paper, it can be accessed here: https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/employment-law-hearing-structures/.

If you have any questions regarding this update, or you require advice or assistance on any other employment law matters, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team on 0141 331 5150.

Topics: Employment Tribunal, Employment Tribunal Fees