Tribunal cases rise

Tribunal cases reach record high as slump takes toll and as data shows increase of 56 per cent in claimants in last year.

The number of tribunal cases brought against employers has risen by more than half to record levels during the recession, new figures have revealed.

Claims accepted by employment tribunals increased by 56 per cent in England, Scotland and Wales this year, according to the latest data from the Tribunals Service.

A total of 236,100 cases were lodged in the year to the end of March 2010, up from 151,000 claims in the preceding 12 months.

The Tribunal Service attributed the soaring number of cases to an increase in multiple claims – which rose by nearly 90 per cent on 2008-09 – and “partly as a result of the changing economic climate”.

Multiple claims are where two or more people instigate cases on similar grounds – usually against a single employer, or more than one in Tupe cases.

The figures also showed a dramatic increase in the number of claims associated with redundancy – up 76 per cent from 10,800 last year to 19,000 this year, while unfair dismissal claims rose by 9 per cent to 57,400 cases.

There was also a sharp rise in age discrimination claims, climbing 37 per cent from 3,800 cases in 2008-09, to 5,200 claims in 2009-10.

But equal pay employment tribunal claims dropped during the same period by 18 per cent to 37,400.

Source: Michelle Stevens, PM Online