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Fall in employment tribunal cases
Figures released by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) show a large decline in the number of claims received by employment tribunals (ETs) after the introduction of fees at the end of July (see September 2013 Legal Action 14). From 29 July, a fee of up to £250 is charged to bring a single claim. A further fee is charged if the case goes to a hearing. The hearing fee for an unfair dismissal case, the most common type of individual claim, is £950. In multiple claims, fees are charged on a sliding scale depending on the number of applicants: for example, for over 200 applicants claiming unfair dismissal the fee is £5,700.
Single claims by an individual against an employer for unfair dismissal and other complaints fell in September to only 1,000 cases. Previously the number of such claims had been running at around 4,000 per month. Multiple cases, which involve two or more applicants, have also reduced.
In July, just before the fees were applied, there was a spike in the number of new cases, rising to almost 7,000. Chris Benson, a solicitor at Leigh Day, a firm which specialises in representing employees, told LAG that the firm had issued ‘a lot of cases before the July deadline’ and that employers’ representatives had told him they had noticed a ‘big drop in the number of new cases coming through in August and September’.
LAG annual lecture 2013
Keir Starmer QC, who last month stepped down from his role as Director of Public Prosecutions at the end of his five-year term, will deliver LAG’s 2013 annual lecture: ‘Prosecuting in the public interest: CPS guidelines from assisted suicide to social media’.
The event will take place in London on Thursday 5 December 2013 from 6.30 pm–8 pm. To book, e-mail:
lag@lag.org.uk. The event is free of charge, but delegates are invited to make donation to support LAG’s policy and campaigning work.
Unison, the trade union, brought a judicial review claim against the government’s decision to introduce the fees for employment tribunal cases, arguing that it was in breach of European law. The case was heard in the High Court on 22 and 23 October, and the judgment is expected soon.
According to the MoJ, the number of cases is likely to be revised upwards in subsequent months, as a case is not recorded in its data ‘until either the fee has been paid or remission has been granted’.