EEF’s tribunal claims rise 20 per cent on year

The
number of employment tribunal claims and cases handled by the Engineering
Employers’ Federation (EEF) significantly increased last year.

The
latest EEF Employment Tribunal Survey reveals that the number of ET claims
handled by its regional associations in 2002 increased by 20 per cent on 2001,
from 3,028 to 3,632.

The
research also reveals that the number of cases handled by associations increased
from 1,865 to 2,145 in 2002, a rise of 15 per cent.

It
finds that 23 per cent of all claims were withdrawn by the applicant before
reaching a hearing (i.e. withdrawn by an applicant without receiving anything
in exchange), only slightly lower than the previous year (24 per cent).

In
all, 81 per cent of all claims were settled or withdrawn before reaching a
hearing, compared to 78 per cent in 2001.

By Ben Willmott