Employment Tribunals – all quiet on the ET front
The latest ET statistics for winter 2015 show that ET claims are still badly hit by the impact of ET fees since the Conservative/Liberal coalition Government introduced them in 2012. ET fees of up to £1,200 per claim are payable to the Government. There’s been a 71% fall in the number of single ET claims, such as unfair dismissal, unpaid wages and discrimination.
Our David Sorensen, partner, says: “this is further evidence of the massively negative impact of ET fees on access to justice. The Government said that the reason to bring in ET fees was to remove weak cases from the legal system. However, the proportion of cases that win and lose, about 50/50, has remained the same after fees were brought in – but the number of claims started has fallen by over 70%. In my opinion, this can only mean that good, credible and worthy cases are not being pursued, limiting access to justice to workers. Who can pay ET fees of up to £1,200 if they’ve just been dismissed? For most people the rent, mortgage, food and heating will come first. Rights just become paper if workers can’t afford to access them”.
