Guest Post
On 10 September 2015 the Ministry of Justice published the latest set of quarterly Employment Tribunal statistics for April to June 2015. This report laid out statistics for the Employment Tribunal for this period relating to the number of claims made, the number of claims that were successful, and the amount of compensation that was awarded for claims.
The number of claims made
The report stated that there has been a continued trend of decline in the number of claims (both individual and multiple) made in the Employment Tribunal between 2012/13 and 2014/15, as follows:
- 2012/13: an average of 52,000 new claims per quarter
- 2013/14: an average of 26,500 new claims per quarter
- April to June 2014/15: an average of 12,563 new claims per quarter
With regards to individual claims (claims made by one individual against one or more persons) the trend of claims has been more volatile:
- October 2012: 5,000 claims made
- June 2013: 4,000 claims made
- July 2013: 6,500 claims made
- September 2013: 1,000 claims made
- October 2013 to June 2015: an average of 1,500 claims made per month
Employment Tribunal fees were introduced on 29 July 2013 and the above statistics would seem to suggest that the introduction of fees has had a direct impact on the dramatic fall in the number of claims made, as potential claimants are deterred by the potential outlay (£250 to issue claims in ‘Type B’ claims and a further £950 hearing fee).
The report also found that the proportion of claimants represented by a lawyer increased by four percentage points from 71% in 2013/14 to 75% in 2014/15.
The number of claims that were successful
The number of claims that were successful, conciliated by ACAS or withdrawn (as a percentage of all Employment Tribunal claims) has fallen over recent quarters, from a 79% success rate in 2013/14 to 62% in the last quarter of 2014/15. It has now levelled at 62% - a substantial reduction in the average of claims that were successful between 2007/8 and 2012/13 (79.8%).
The amount of compensation awarded in successful claims
In 2014/15, there were 1,129 claims that received compensation for unfair dismissal. The maximum award in an unfair dismissal claim was £238,216 and the average (mean) award was £12,362.
In 2014/15, there were 219 discrimination claims where compensation was awarded. The maximum amount awarded was £557,039.
The above numbers do not include claims conciliated by ACAS or other forms of settlement, as the terms of such settlements are confidential to the parties.
Chris Hadrill, a specialist employment solicitor at Redmans, commented on the statistics: “These statistics clearly show that there has not only been a reduction in the total number of claims made but also a clear reduction in the number of successful claims made. It remains to be seen whether Employment Tribunal fees are having the intended effect of discouraging ‘unmeritorious’ claims or whether they are in fact discouraging claimants with otherwise-successful claims from pursuing justice.”
Previous reports can be found on the Government website here.
Redmans are litigators and employment solicitors in Chiswick
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