The numbers of employment tribunal cases decreased between July and September this year, allaying fears that the system would be swamped and unworkable in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
New Ministry of Justice figures show that compared with the same period in 2022, receipts fell by 1%, disposals by 3% and open cases by 17%, for cases stemming from claims by one individual. Open cases are characterised as being more difficult cases, involving allegations of discrimination and whistleblowing. Most single claims are straightforward money claims such as for holiday pay or unpaid wages.
Single claim receipts have returned to levels seen prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the ministry said. The number of outstanding single claims – 32,000 – has according to the government “shown early signs of decreasing” and is now below the peak levels seen in 2009/10 (when it was 36,000 in one quarter). Between July and September, there were 7,400 single claim receipts and the tribunals disposed of 7,700 single claim cases.
Multiple employment tribunal cases (involving a group of people making claims), however, saw increases, of 8% (receipts), 78% (disposals) and 1% (open cases). There were 12,000 such claims received between July and September. Figures for multiple claims tended to be more volatile and subject to spikes because they can be skewed by a high number of claims against a single employer, said the justice ministry.
Tribunal cases
Richard Fox, employment partner at Keystone Law and member of the Employment Lawyers Association’s legislative and policy committee, said single claims were a much more reliable monitor of how busy the tribunals were, given how multiple claims tended to distort the figures.
He said: “After real concern that the employment tribunals were at breaking point at the start of the pandemic, it does now appear that measures taken by the presidents of the tribunals in England and Wales not least in increasing significantly the number of employment judges that have been recruited, have arrested what many had anticipated would be a seriously difficult – maybe even existential – time for the tribunals.” This was no mean feat in such a short period of time, he added.
Fox warned, however, that the system still faced challenges tackling the marked variation in performance and waiting times across the country. He said: “Measures have been taken to try and even out the load, such as the launch in April 2021 of a new virtual region where tribunal judges in regions that are less busy, can help out those tribunals facing a disproportionately high load, London being a prime example. But there will be a way to go on that score.”
He felt that the new figures were a “real cause for optimism” and said he was expecting the roll out of the HMCTS (His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service) tribunals reform programme to “make greater inroads into the process of making the employment tribunals function more efficiently in the years ahead.”
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