Since Employment Tribunals fees were ruled unlawful and were abolished a year ago, it has been reported that there has been a consistent rise in number of cases. From July to September 2018 there were 23,700 outstanding cases in the system, representing a 77% increase on the same period in 2017.
Research conducted by GQILittler also found Tribunals received 36,900 single claims in the year ending September 2018.
Claims are taking longer to work through the system causing Employers to devote more Admin resources to dealing with them over a longer period than originally planned.
3,365 Tribunals were postponed within 48 hours of their scheduled date from August 2017 to March 2018.
With the growing number of claims made and the falling numbers of Judges and Administrative Staff, Tribunals are no longer able to keep up with the demand which is having a knock on effect on businesses as they are held up waiting to be processed and to resolve the issue(s) raised by the claimant.
The Ministry of Justice have organised additional sitting days for Judges to cope with the increased workload and a Judicial recruitment campaign is underway.