Employment tribunal claims pick up

The slump in employment tribunal claims that followed the rise in fees last year appears to have reversed.

Figures gathered by Hugh James Solicitors reveal the number of multiple claims jumped 75% in 12 months, from 10,840 to 18,940 in the third quarter of 2014.

After fees were introduced in July 2013 there was a steep decline in the number of claims being brought. Statistics showed an 81% drop in claims lodged between April and June 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.

However, Hugh James say the number of claims is now rebounding as disgruntled former employees adjust to the new fees and weigh the financial risks against the potential payout.

The requirement, from 6 May 2014, for employees to attempt to use the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service’s (ACAS) early conciliation service before lodging a tribunal case may also have affected claims. Since this service became mandatory, the total number of claims has doubled, although certain types of easily resolvable cases have reduced in number, for example, redundancy payment cases have fallen by nearly a third.

Emma Burns, partner at Hugh James, says: “The cost for launching a claim is £160 to £250—when they were first introduced it was a shock, but now people are more acclimatised to these fees.

“With straightforward cases, such as a dispute over whether or not redundancy payments were made, the ACAS service seems to be successful in clearing issues up more quickly, so changes to the system are helping.”