Since the Employment Tribunal scrapped fees in July 2017, the number of claims has risen year on year by circa 26% (between April 2018 and March 2019 there were a staggering 35,429 claims lodged). It is now easier than ever for disgruntled employees to bring a claim, it is not surprising that we are seeing these kinds of figures.
The most common claims at an employment tribunal involve:
- unfair dismissal, including constructive dismissal
- unlawful discrimination, on the grounds of sex, race, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, or religion or belief
- unpaid wages or deductions from pay
- holiday pay
- notice pay
In terms of the nature of claims brought the percentage increases are as follows;
- Breach of contract, up 15%
- Race discrimination, up 18%
- Unfair dismissal, up 20%
- Sex discrimination, up 69%
- Disability discrimination, up 25%
- Redundancy (failure to inform and consult), up 36%
Of course, some of the claims are disposed of without the need for a hearing either by way of settlement or withdrawal (by the employee) however, of those claims making it all of the way to a hearing, a huge 90% were won by the employee!! Not only is dealing with defending an employment tribunal claim costly, it is also extremely stressful.
With these statistics in mind, there has never been a better time to try and minimise the risk to your business. Receiving professional support from Employment Law & HR specialists sets you off on the right footing. Get your contracts and onboarding paperwork in order, make sure you follow internal processes and comply with legislation. Absolute Works can not only advise you through the minefield of process and legislation but can do the ‘doing’ for you. We can issue offer letters, carry out reference and eligibility checks, in fact, Absolute Works can carry out all of your HR admin function for a fraction of the cost of an internal specialist resource.
Give us a call today to explore how we can help you.
01926 355560
Or drop us a note: info@absoluteworks.co.uk
