According to official figures from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the number of employment tribunal claims has fallen by almost a fifth in 2013 following the introduction of fees.
There was a 17 per cent reduction in claims submitted in the period between July and September this year compared with the same period in 2012, including a 42 per cent decrease in unfair dismissal claims.
The quarter’s results are the first to be published since the introduction of fees in the Employment Tribunal at the end of July this year, which were introduced to discourage spurious claims.
The fee system now means that simple claims such as unlawful deductions from wages cost £160 for issue and £230 for the case to be heard. More complex claims, such as unfair dismissal and discrimination, cost £250 for issue and £950 for the hearing.
The figures show that there has been a steady decrease since the beginning of the quarter. Tribunal receipts for July to September were around 40,000 in total, as in June, there were 25,000 claims and in July there were 17,000. This dropped to 7,000 in August but then doubled in September. Meanwhile, the Employment Tribunal received an average of 17,000 claims per month between January and May this year.
However, the figures do not necessarily mean that there has been a ‘real’ decrease, as many people submitted claims earlier than normal to avoid the fee introduction deadline, while employers are now potentially playing a waiting game.
Since they have to make payment on submitting a claim, employers may be more reluctant to settle if threatened with litigation, as they can wait and see if the claimant will go through with it. Therefore the number of claims that initially reach a tribunal may well rise.