Data regarding employment tribunal cases for the latest quarter (January to March 2021) has been published by the Ministry of Justice. The interesting statistics show, when compared to the same period in 2020:
- Receipts of single tribunal claims decreased by 13%, to 9,100 claims, with disposals also decreasing by 14%;
- The tribunal’s outstanding caseload increased by 39%;
- Receipts of multiple tribunal cases have increased 14%, to 15,000 claims, with disposals decreasing by 34%.
ACAS have also recently published its early conciliation (EC) and employment tribunal data for England, Scotland and Wales for the period April to December 2020. Headline results show:
- Over 60% of EC notifications did not materialise into an employment tribunal claim;
- At least 77% of ET1s filed by Claimants did not proceed to a hearing;
- Cases such as discrimination and whistleblowing were more likely to progress than others.
The data above shows that Claimants continue to bring the more complex cases involving multiple claims to the employment tribunal. Whilst the majority of cases are withdrawn (presumably settled), it is these cases which are the most likely to proceed. It is anticipated that the number of cases brought in the employment tribunal may rise going forward as a result of the pandemic’s impact on businesses and the furlough scheme ending later this year. An increase in redundancies can be expected and, therefore, so can cases involving unfair dismissal as a result.