UK employers are now spending £210m a year on employment tribunal claims, according to research from the think-tank that advises the government on discrimination in the workplace. After age discrimination becomes illegal this October, the figure is set to rise by 70% to £360m in 2007, Committed2Equality predicts. Around 30,000 legal actions – most claiming unfair dismissal, unequal pay or sex discrimination – are filed with the employment tribunal service each year. Although many of these claims are eventually settled out of court, they still cost companies £7,000 on average, mainly to cover lawyers’ fees, the research shows. Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday Janet Lakhani, Committed2Equality chief executive, warned that companies were failing to update their procedures in line with legal changes. She cited a court of appeal judgment last year that imposes a “presumption of guilt” on employers that are sued, obliging them to provide proof that they did not discriminate.
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