Employment Tribunal claims rise, but are still below pre-fees level

Recently-published minutes of the meeting of the Employment Tribunal National User Group (England and Wales) held in September 2018, show a 165% increase in single Employment Tribunal (ET) claims compared with the preceding year. 


These claims are the most reliable measure of the ET’s workload.


Drawing on statistics issued by the Ministry of Justice, the figures show there would have had to be a 200% increase in single claims to return to a pre-fees position.


Judge Brian Doyle president of the Employment Tribunals of England and Wales, updated the group over ET fees refunds.


He said that at the end of June 2018, there had been 14,500 applications for refunds resulting in 12,400 actual refunds, totalling £10.6 million. 


Other points noted by the group are:


• the outstanding caseload had increased by 130%. In some regions it was taking 12-18 months to list unfair dismissal and discrimination claims for a final hearing; 


• a Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) exercise to recruit 54 full-time equivalent salaried employment judges was launched on 18 June last year and closed on 2 July. Because the appointments are also open to part-time working, the final number of judges recruited might be as many as 60-70; and


• for the first time, the recruitment of new salaried employment judges was open to candidates without previous judicial experience.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/760930/Employment_Tribunal_NUG_minutes_26_September_2018.pdf