Fees blamed for 'enormous drop' in employment tribunal claims

Employment lawyers have blamed the introduction of fees for employment tribunals last summer for an "enormous drop" in the number of claims by individuals during the final quarter of last year.

The number of claims received by tribunals for the period October to December 2013 was 9,801, according to the latest figures from the MoJ. This was 79 per cent down on the same quarter in 2012, and 75 per cent lower than the previous quarter last year.

Laurie Anstis (pictured), solicitor at Boyes Turner in Reading, said that, despite his caution when a big monthly fall was reported in September, he had no hesitation now in saying fees had brought down the number of claims.

"This is an enormous drop and the primary reason for it must be the introduction of fees," he said.

"Claims will go back up, but nothing like to the level they used to be before fees. It is cheaper to bring claims like unpaid wages in the county court."

Anstis said last year's county court fee of £50 for issue and hearing was much less than the £390 charged by employment tribunals.

He said the biggest impact of the fall in claims was likely to be on CABs and voluntary agencies, rather than solicitors' firms.

"People with unpaid wages claims will really have to think twice about bringing a claim, particularly if their employer can't or won't pay."

Darren Newman, employment law barrister and trainer, said: "It amazes me how the government could have introduced a fee making it less expensive for vulnerable workers to go to the county court rather than a tribunal.

"If you think about how speculative an unfair dismissal claim is, and how it is quite usual to get a very modest sum, someone with a small redundancy claim might well find this unfair."

Newman said people might have to gamble the risk of getting only two weeks' pay against having to pay an issue and hearing fee of £1,200.

He added that the introduction next month of compulsory early conciliation for claimants at ACAS could be "another nudge" away from tribunal claims, particularly for litigants in person.

The MoJ statistical report said that a claim was not considered to be received by a tribunal until the fee was paid, or remission granted "which may increase the time it takes to enter cases onto the system."

The report went on: "The trend in single claims has been declining for the last five years, while the trend in multiple claims is more volatile due to large numbers of claims against a single employer which can skew the national figures and have to be resubmitted each quarter."

The MoJ reported that there had also been a drop in the number of multiple claims, but these figures should be treated with "extreme caution", because of the way the data had been extracted.