Tribunal claims

Statistics published by the Tribunal Service show that claims by older workers and pregnant women have risen sharply in the last quarter of 2010. Tribunal claims for age discrimination more than doubled on the previous year and claims of discrimination and unfair dismissal by pregnant women rose by 47% in the same period. These figures contrast with an overall fall in unfair dismissal claims during 2010.

Employment specialists at DBS Law put this down to the early rush of redundancies at the beginning of the first recession having largely affected workers in non-protected groups.

Paul Griffin, head of employment at DBS Law said: “The figures show a worrying trend in employment in the UK.

“The growth of discrimination claims from older workers and pregnant women suggests that employers are now targeting their more expensive staff, despite them being in protected groups. Obviously mistakes are being made in companies as accounts departments win out against HR.”