There were 23,904 unfair dismissal complaints at employment tribunals in 2020/21, out of more than 117,000 employment tribunal hearings altogether. Working Time Directive hearings were the second most common (20,867) followed by unauthorised deductions (17,816), age discrimination (15,336) and breach of contract (14,836).
Tina Chander, employment partner, Wright Hassall, said: ‘This highlights the turbulence in the employment market that has been brought about by the pandemic and frequent lockdowns.’
Some types of claim soared during the pandemic―Part Time Workers Regulations cases escalated by an astonishing 767% on the previous, pre-pandemic year, while age discrimination cases rose 530%. In total, a wide range of claims increased during the pandemic, including Transfer of an undertaking―failure to inform and consult (84%); unfair dismissal, public interest disclosure and written pay statement (all about 10% higher); race discrimination (5%) and written statement of reasons for dismissal (0.56%).
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