Employment Law Update (April 2009)

Employment Tribunal claims up 42%

Figures just released by the Employment Tribunals Service show an increase in claims to employment tribunals of 42%, up from 132,577 claims in 2006 / 2007 to 189,303 claims in 2007 / 2008. However, because of a delay producing the statistics – which relate to the year ended March 2008 – the figures will not take into account many claims resulting from the recession.

What do the figures tell us?

Claims are getting more complex, with over 62,000 claims brought under Equal Pay laws and over 55,000 brought under the Working Time Directive.  Additionally, in the first full year of the operation of the new Age Discrimination laws – introduced in October 2006 – 2,949 claims were made, although this is still only around a tenth of the number of claims brought for Sex Discrimination.

…and what they don't tell us

The production of the statistics was delayed this year owing to changes in the structure of the Tribunals Service, and because they are now a year out of date, they will not show claims resulting from the recession. Examples of such claims are for:

• failure to consult in redundancy situations;
• unfair selection for redundancy; and
• unlawful deduction from wages (perhaps in respect of reduced hours or overtime).

However, the statistics do serve as a reminder of the complexity of employment law through the number of types of claim made and the potential benefits of access to case-by-case advice through your Mentor service, which can be supported by our no-additional-cost indemnity.