Around 19 years ago, at the time of the last recession, similar fears and doomsday scenarios were playing out.
No more so is this visible than in the numbers of employment tribunals, which skyrocketed by an average of 50% or more in those years.
Statistics from BERR (then DTi) show the number of registered
applications to industrial tribunals rising from 29304 in 1988 to a
peak of 88918 in 1996.
The largest jump came in 1990-1991, when total applications shot from 43244 to 67691 in the course of one year.
In no particular order, the breakdown is as follows:
Areas like redundancy and breaches of contract would lead the rise in employment tribunals during those years, and experts say there is no reason not to expect the same thing this time around.
But statistics for 2008 are missing, and have been for at least six months.
Personnel Today's sister title XpertHR has now been forced to submit a Freedom of Information request to the Ministry of Justice to get the information after half a year of broken promises and empty answers.
Changes to the Tribunals Service annual report mean less information is passed on to employers and legal experts.
And with negative statistics appearing more often in the coming months, the government will likely do its best to minimise the accompanying bad publicity.
Stay tuned for further updates.
The largest jump came in 1990-1991, when total applications shot from 43244 to 67691 in the course of one year.
In no particular order, the breakdown is as follows:
- Unfair dismissal - 25813 to 40022
- Redundancy - 4298 to 9041
- Discrimination - 3766 to 5528
- Wages Act & breach of contract - 6237 to 9681
Areas like redundancy and breaches of contract would lead the rise in employment tribunals during those years, and experts say there is no reason not to expect the same thing this time around.
But statistics for 2008 are missing, and have been for at least six months.
Personnel Today's sister title XpertHR has now been forced to submit a Freedom of Information request to the Ministry of Justice to get the information after half a year of broken promises and empty answers.
Changes to the Tribunals Service annual report mean less information is passed on to employers and legal experts.
And with negative statistics appearing more often in the coming months, the government will likely do its best to minimise the accompanying bad publicity.
Stay tuned for further updates.
