Employment Tribunal - Claims and caseloads predicted to worsen as year progresses

Latest quarterly Tribunal statistics published by the Government this week reveal  “an increase in rates across the country due to the impact of Covid-19 on the economy” leading to “the highest level of Single ET claims since 2012/13 and an increase in the outstanding caseload.” 

Statistics reveal employment tribunals involving individuals in the first three full months of the Covid-19 lockdown increased by 18%, compared to the same period last year, up to 10,000. The Ministry of Justice’s website also says that the caseload outstanding stands at 37,000 – greater than the peak levels seen in 2009/10 when it was 36,000 in Q2 of that year.

Sarah Evans, an Employment lawyer at Constantine Law agrees that “The rise in Employment receipts is likely to continue as the government’s Job Retention scheme comes to an end at the end of October.” 

She comments,  “ Whilst there are no massive spikes or troughs recorded in the period, there are a few nuggets which indicate things to come in the next update, when our current experience of the grinding to halt of an already overwhelmed employment tribunal system, will really feature.” 

Evans points out to the increasing proportion of unrepresented applicants to the Appeal Tribunal (32% of claimants in 2019/20 had no legal representation recorded up from 21% in 2018/19). There is also a significant reduction in disposals- down by 21%.

“As the global economy teeters on the brink of recession, the second wave of Covid is here, and unemployment figures rise, paid access to justice is likely to be further squeezed.  Cases in the Tribunal are taking longer and longer to get to final hearing and the impetus for settlement often lost because there is no urgency to deal with potential findings of liability, negative or positive, if it suits the parties to effectively sit it out for a while.” 

Evans concedes some moves in the right direction – the provision of additional venues – such as the Nightingale courts to add temporary capacity to hear cases. And the attempt to support access to justice, by increasing audio and video technology capability, enabling judges to conduct remote hearings to a far greater degree.

However, she feels does not feel this will be sufficient to deal with an increasing backlog 

“Since the abolition of fees, the number of claims issued has risen steadily, and this will continue to be the case simply because of the volume of dismissals, and because of businesses in real trouble trying to survive and reducing jobs.  Judges and staff are no doubt doing their all to address backlogs – in Manchester we regularly receive correspondence/judgments/ directions issued by Judges clearly working over weekends for example. But this will not be enough. ” 

“Apart from the effect of Covid, our employment tribunal system is also still recovering somewhat from the disastrous effect of the introduction of tribunal fees, which saw swathes of resources cut, but not yet replaced.”