Employment Tribunal Fees review…finally!

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has launched its long-awaited impact review of employment tribunal fees, two years after their introduction.

The review will consider the effectiveness of the fee remissions scheme, as well as look at data on case volumes, progression and outcomes. It will research the views of court and tribunal users, look for key trends and examine the extent to which there has been any discouragement of weak or unmeritorious claims. It is due to be completed by the end of this year.

The announcement comes just weeks before the Court of Appeal hearing into Unison’s judicial review application over tribunal fees, in which the union argued the fees were unlawful because they would deny access to justice for workers and had a disproportionate impact on women. The High Court ruled last year that it was too early to tell the impact.

Tribunal claims dropped by about 80% in the first six months after fees were introduced, although more recent figures show the number of multiple claims has since almost recovered and the number of claims as a whole is rising again.