For the fourth year in a row waiting times have risen for Employment Tribunal claims in the UK.
Research by employment law firm GQ Littler has shown that the average waiting time - from the Tribunal receiving a claim and hearing it - is now eight months. This is up by 14% from last year, when the waiting time was 207 days.
Since 2017, when the fees required to launch a claim were abolished, claims have been on the rise with 27% extra - a total of 35,430 claims - received in 2018/19. This came about at a time when tribunal services were already struggling due to government funding cuts, resulting in HM Courts & Tribunals service finding it difficult to employ enough front-line judicial staff, such as salaried judges and key administrative support staff to deal with their caseload.
Both employers and workers are disrupted by the wait and face months of uncertainty - with senior management often being distracted from more strategic management issues.
Raoul Parekh - Partner at GQ Littler - said:
“Many businesses facing an employment claim feel like they are operating under a cloud until that claim is dealt with. That’s why it’s important to get these claims dealt with quickly. But at current trend Employment Tribunals will soon reach breaking point. Eight month delays are just not sustainable and can be very challenging for both parties involved. On this kind of timeline, it is not uncommon for key witnesses to leave, move to other roles or countries, and memories can also fade. A severe lack of resources means delays are endemic across the whole tribunals system – even when calling the employment tribunal’s enquiries helpline, you can be waiting for hours. If no material increase in funding arises then authorities may need to look at more creative solutions. Options put forward include introducing a new step in the tribunal’s process which gives both parties a chance to settle before a case is heard in court.”
Earlier this year, the Judicial Appointments Commission did launch a recruitment drive to hire an extra 54 salaried Employment Tribunal judges. As a result of this - by July 2019 - 27 new staff had been appointed and more are planned.
A recent report by the ‘all-party parliamentary group for whistleblowing’ showed that some whistleblowers were waiting between 18 and 36 months for their claim to be resolved, noting that the excessive duration of tribunal trials could discourage other whistleblowers from making a complaint. Instead of confronting their employer, these employees were often just resigning or retiring.
Making comment on the GQ Littler report, shadow Justice Secretary - Richard Burgon – said:
“This is an unacceptable delay. Workers who have been unlawfully treated by bad bosses should not be forced to wait even longer for justice.”
