According to quarterly statistics by HM Courts and Tribunals Service, the backlog of cases at employment tribunals continues to grow. It will reach 49,800 cases at the end 2024. This is a 23% rise from 39,000 cases a year ago.
Approximately 450,000 people, with single and multiple claims, await the resolution of their cases.
Philip Cameron, partner of the law firm Littler said that there was still a “severe lack” of qualified employment court judges. This means claimants and employers have to wait too long for their cases to be resolved.
Littler warned previously that the introduction of new worker’s rights in the Employment Rights Bill would lead to an increase of the already alarming backlog of employment tribunals.
According to Ministry of Justice statistics, the average wait time at an employment tribunal for a claim of discrimination or unfair dismissal is approximately a year.
Cameron stated: “That is not fair to either party.” Businesses are unable to function if they’re in limbo. This is an acute problem for small businesses.
The government must provide additional funding for the tribunals to deal with the backlog of cases and the surge of disputes expected when the Employment Bill is passed.
In the fall, the number of cases filed with the courts reached 11,500. This is a far greater number than the 10,100 cases resolved during that quarter. This is a 30 percent increase in the number of claims compared to 2023’s same quarter, when tribunals only received 8,800 cases.
Cameron added that “making unfair dismissal an ‘day one’ right will result in a huge surge of claims, even if probation periods are allowed.” “On top that, there is the potential for disputes to arise from redundancies by companies as they attempt to cope with recent increases in minimum wage and employer’s national insurance.”
In the long term, the abolishment of tribunal fees has led to an increase in the number of cases. Tribunals are also struggling to reduce the backlog of hearings caused by the Covid Pandemic.
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