Labour has called on the Government to address the Employment
Tribunal backlog as the latest statistics published today show a
marked rise in total outstanding cases on 2010 figures and the
previous quarter.
The Employment Tribunal quarterly figures show that the total
number of outstanding cases by the end of September 2020
continued on a dramatic upward trend, rising to 473,142, which
represents an increase of over 11.5 per cent on the previous year
and of almost 40 per cent on 2009/10 figures from the same
quarter.
As a result of the rising backlog of cases, the average number of
weeks taken for single cases to be processed rose to 39 weeks, up
from 34 weeks in the same period of 2018/19. If this rate were to
continue, then the total backlog of cases would rise to 835,514
by the end of 2024.
The closure of courts due to the impact of Coronavirus is in part
responsible for the rise in the number of outstanding cases, but
employment lawyers state that this has just piled ‘a crisis onto
a crisis’, with the backlog rising since 2015 after a reduction
caused by the introduction of employment tribunal fees that the
Supreme Court declared illegal in 2017.
, Labour’s Shadow Employment Rights and
Protections Secretary, commenting on the latest
Employment Tribunal statistics said:
“The government’s failure to get a grip on the Employment
Tribunal backlog has left working people waiting years for
justice and undermined their ability to uphold their rights at
work, leaving them unprotected at a time when they most need
protections.
“With so many outstanding cases, many workers might not bother to
make claims and will end up denied the pay, annual leave and
other rights they are entitled to.
“The government must put forward a real plan to relieve this
backlog without watering down rights to ensure that workers are
not at the mercy of bad employers. Without rapid action, rights
in the workplace will not be worth the paper they’re written on.”
Ends
Notes to Editors:
- According to Tribunal Statistics Quarterly: July to September
2020, Table S_4, the total number of outstanding Employment
Tribunal claims has reached 473,142, an increase of 11.5%
compared with the figure of 424,157 from 2019/20 Q2, and an
increase of 39.9% compared with the figure of 338,289 from
2009/10 Q2. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/942757/Main_Tables_Q2_2020_21.ods
- Tribunal Statistics Quarterly: July to September 2020, Table
ET_1, shows that the total Employment Tribunal claims accepted in
2020/21 Q2 was 30,503. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/942757/Main_Tables_Q2_2020_21.ods
- Tribunal Statistics Quarterly: July to September 2020, Table
ET_2, shows that the total Employment Tribunal claims disposed in
2020/21 Q2 was 9,187. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/942757/Main_Tables_Q2_2020_21.ods
- Therefore, there was a deficit of 21,316 claims that were
disposed. Were this to be replicated in each of the 17 quarters
up until the end of 2024, there would be an increase in the
outstanding claims of 362,372, meaning that the total outstanding
Employment Tribunal claims would reach 835,514.
- The mean age at disposal of Employment Tribunal single cases
in 2020/21 Q2 was 39 weeks, five weeks more than in 2019/20 Q2.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2020/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2020
- Ministers have also been slow to adapt the Employment
Tribunal system to the challenges posed by Coronavirus, with the
system struggling to implement technology to allow hearings to be
held remotely, and a road a “Road Map” setting out plans for
allowing hearings to go ahead more substantially not produced
until June 2020.
- As workers take action and bring claims against unscrupulous
employers amidst a wave of dismissals and redundancies over the
coming months, the Coronavirus crisis is also expected to further
exacerbate the backlog in employment tribunal cases and delay
justice that has already been put on hold since March.
