Tribunal Statistics – January 2023 to March 2023

Each quarter the Ministry of Justice publish quarterly employment tribunal (“ET”) statistics relating to claims made in the previous period. The latest figures, which were posted on 8 June 2023, relate to claims brought between January to March 2023. We draw attention to the following statistics highlighted in the report:

• 476,831 claims are still outstanding at the ET.

There are a lot of claims outstanding in the tribunal system, and this number is an increase on previous years. Given the number of outstanding claims, it is likely that there may be significant delays in disposing of tribunal claims. This could affect listings as well as impacting on the ability for the tribunal to respond, issue documents and also undertake hearings.

• Rise in multiple claims by 39% (multiple claims being where a Claimant brings more than one head of claim in their ET1).

It appears as though Claimant’s are more frequently bringing multiple claims when starting proceedings in the tribunal (such as claims of both unfair dismissal and discrimination). Bringing multiple claims often increases the complexity of the issues to be determined. This usually means more complex and intensive work when lodging defences, but can also to lead to longer listings. Single issue claims, such as an ordinary unfair dismissal, can usually be listed for a one day hearing. This tends to keep legal costs low, and ensures a swifter listing date. Multiple claims usually require a preliminary hearing be listed, and then longer final hearings, all of which increase legal costs. It is worth noting that with multiple claims, there also tends to be higher compensation available to claimants, so the risks to employers are generally higher.

We await a more detail breakdown of the statistics for the previous 12 months. If published, we will provide a more detail analysis of tribunal trends and awards.