Employment Tribunal Service Annual Statistics

The Employment Tribunal Service has recently published its annual employment tribunal statistics for 2006/07 (1^st April to 31^st March). The number of claims has risen again, this year by 15%, from 115,039 in 2005/06 to 132,577. Despite the rise, the ETS confirms that they have managed to reduce the waiting times for single cases appearing before the Tribunal.

Unfair dismissal claims accounted for the greatest number lodged, at 44,491, closely followed by equal pay claims which saw the largest increase, rising from 17,268 in 2005/06 to 44,013. This is a 155% increase which has contributed significantly to the overall rise in claims and is also likely to be responsible for the 26% increase in multiple cases (as compared to a 3% rise in single cases). Indeed, multiple cases now account for 60% of all claims received. Interestingly, national minimum wage claims are also up by 83%.