Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Employee relationsEmployment lawDispute resolutionLatest NewsEmployment tribunals

TUC chief Brendan Barber defends tribunal system despite surge in court cases

by Greg Pitcher 2 May 2007
by Greg Pitcher 2 May 2007

EXCLUSIVE

TUC leader Brendan Barber has insisted the employment tribunal system is “sensible”, despite a massive rise in the number of claims reaching the courts.

The latest figures from the Employment Tribunal Service show that 115,000 cases (more than 200,000 claims) went to tribunal in 2005-06.

Last week, manufacturing employers’ body the EEF revealed the number of tribunals it had handled over the past year had risen by 25%. Peter Schofield, EEF director of employment and legal affairs, called on the government to “halt the rising tide of employment litigation”.

But Barber said the number of cases reaching tribunal should be higher. He told Personnel Today: “Are there only 120,000 or so experiences of workplace injustice in the UK each year? It is an astonishingly low number.”

Michael Gibbons, a member of the Better Regulation Commission, reported to the government in March that there should be greater use of mediation to reduce the number of tribunal cases.

Earlier this year, Mark Ellis, a solicitor at business consultancy Ellis Whittam, won massive support when he suggested that the unfair dismissal law should be scrapped. Almost half of the 450 HR professionals who responded to Personnel Today’s online barometer survey agreed.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

But Barber said calls to scrap the law were “utterly unacceptable”. He added that wider unionisation of workers would reduce the number of disputes that ended up at tribunal.

“One of the consequences of the reduction in collective bargaining has been more people looking to the law for remedies,” he said.

TUC
Greg Pitcher

previous post
Government appoints Roger Singleton as chairman of Vetting and Barring Scheme to check potential workers with children and vulnerable adults
next post
Thought leaders plan HR’s future at Personnel Today HR Directors Club event

You may also like

UK net migration slashed by half in one...

22 May 2025

How neuroscience can unlock employee recognition

22 May 2025

UK universities fret over fall in international students

22 May 2025

HSBC employees warned of office attendance link to...

22 May 2025

The Law Society: Navigating the new world of...

22 May 2025

Workplace stress: Why it’s time to rebrand resilience

22 May 2025

Restaurant tips should be included in holiday pay

21 May 2025

Fewer workers would comply with a return-to-office mandate

21 May 2025

Redefining leadership: From competence to inclusion

21 May 2025

Pay awards in real terms could fall for...

21 May 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+