The Ministry of Justice has recently issued its quarterly statistics in relation to Employment Tribunal claims. These figures show that the number of claims issued in the Employment Tribunal have increased by 90% since the fee regime was abolished back in July 2017.

8,173 single claims were issued in the Tribunal between October and December 2017, whereas only 4,200 were issued during the same period in 2016. Additionally, claims have increased by 16% from the previous quarter (July to September 2017) , meaning that claims are now at their highest level since 2013 when the employment fees were introduced.

This increase has created a significant backlog in the Tribunal system, which had drastically reduced its staffing levels as a result of the impact of the fee system since 2013. This clear increase in employee appetite to pursue claims in the Employment Tribunal may mean that businesses need to review the commercial approach they previously took with decisions made when the employment fee regime was in place.

Christine Hart, Head of Employment says “Employers may wish to tread more carefully, follow their policies and procedures and introduce more training for managers and HR. Of course, that isn’t to say that employers aren’t left with any latitude when it comes to making work force based decisions, however, we would strongly recommend that due to the increase risks of claims being pursued by employees legal advice is sought at an early stage”.