Recession fuels rise in tribunals

The economic downturn is leading to more employment tribunals, with a 23 per cent rise in claims since the beginning of the financial crisis, experts say. Despite the Tribunals Service recording a total of 186,300 claims up to March this year – representing a 15 per cent fall compared to the same period in 2011 – the overall figure is nearly a quarter higher than in 2008-09. Statistics show that 25 per cent of tribunals were for unfair dismissal and 27 per cent due to unauthorised pay reductions. Unresolved claims were up 12 per cent to a new record of 540,800 and the backlog of cases, sometimes taking more than three years to be concluded, was largely made up of 514,300 multiple claims in terms of people and complaints. Single claims were down seven per cent, year-on-year.

Other rises were recorded in cases involving staff not being consulted over takeovers and mergers (36 per cent to 2,600) and redundancies (eight per cent to 8,000). Rule changes on redundancy are a major part of the Government’s plans for industry and Business Secretary Vince Cable is putting forward proposals to lower the statutory minimum consultation period in cases with large numbers of job losses from 90 days to as little as 30.

Our Employment team provides advice on the employment aspects of all major business decisions. For advice, contact a member of the team: call us on 01895 207892 or email employment@ibblaw.co.uk.