Tribunal Cases Rise for Employers and Delays Are Frustrating the Process

Posted on July 23, 2019

More and more employees now consider bringing a claim against their employer, the latest statistics from workplace experts ACAS reveal.

The removal of tribunal fees has continued to show a high demand for conciliation services and an overall 40% increase in claims reaching an Employment Tribunal.

Employees have to notify Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) before a tribunal claim is lodged and conflict resolution is then attempted, only when this is not achieved does a tribunal follow and in their latest figures the workplace experts reveal a high demand for their services.

The 2018-19 Annual Report shows an increase in demand from 1,700 per week to 2,200 per week (29.4%) following the Supreme Court decision a couple of years ago to abolish employment tribunal fees.

Key facts and figures from this year's annual report include:

There has been a rise in demand for Acas' individual dispute resolution service.
Pay or pay related matters were top causes of disputes with 84 per cent of these issues settled by Acas
Acas trained nearly 50,000 people on a range of workplace topics including the latest changes in employment law.

“It’s no surprise that the number of people bringing a tribunal claim has increased as fees were abolished and as employment solicitors we see the effects of this,” said Head of Employment, Susan Mayall.

“I see both employee and employer clients affected by this change and there have been significant delays for clients as cases can sometimes not be heard until next year and this is obviously confusing and frustrating for all concerned,” she added.

A recent survey highlighted these delays, the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) said solicitors had experienced delays in tribunals, including in the average time taken to deal with the first stage of the litigation process and for parties receiving judgments.

“I have some clients from earlier this year who are waiting until 2020 for their tribunal claims to be heard and this is obviously distressing for all parties,” said Susan.

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