The latest employment tribunal and EAT statistics have been published by the Ministry of Justice. They detail the type and volume of cases received, disposed of and outstanding for the period April 2016 to March 2017. This information is useful in assessing employment litigation trends and the impact of fees (introduced in July 2013, but outlawed in July 2017) and Acas early conciliation (introduced in May 2014).
The stats show that 88,476 employment tribunal claims were accepted in this period. Although this represents a 1% increase in the year on year figures, it still only amounts to 46% of the total figure of 191,451 that were received in the last complete year before the introduction of fees (i.e. 2012–13).
Unfair Dismissal
Of the 2,139 unfair dismissal cases that proceeding to a preliminary and/or final hearing, 712 were upheld and compensation was awarded in 587 of them (down from 603 cases in 2015-16). The level compensation is broken down as follows:
- Highest – £1,744,575
- Average – £16,543 (compared to £13,851 in 2015-16)
- Median – £7,521 (compared to £7,332 in 2015–16).
Discrimination:
Awards were made in 158 discrimination cases (compared to 144 in 2015–16), the largest being £456,434. These were further broken down as follows:
Sex Discrimination
- Highest award – £127,230
- Average award – £19,152 (down from £85,622 in 2015-16)
- Median award – was £8,381 (down from £13,500 in 2015–16)
Race Discrimination
- Highest – £456,434
- Average – £36,853 (up from £14,185 in 2015–16)
- Median – £13,141 (down from £13,760 in 2015-16)
Disability Discrimination
- Highest – £302,258
- Average – £31,988 (up from £21,729 in 2015–16)
- Median – £10,235 (down from £11,309 in 2015-16)
Religion or Belief Discrimination
- Highest – £74,648
- Average – £20,344 (up from £19,647 in 2015–16)
- Median – £12,045 (down from £16,147 in 2015-16)
Sexual Orientation Discrimination
- Highest – £8,4609
- Average – £6,026 (down from £20,192 in 2015–16)
- Median – £6,314 (down from £20,192 in 2015-16)
Age Discrimination
- Highest – £154,309
- Average – £35,663 (up from £9,025 in 2015–16)
- Median – £15,198 (up from £8,417 in 2015-16)
Costs:
470 costs awards were made in total (as compared with 658 last year). Of those, 297 were made to the claimant and 182 to the respondent. These were broken down as follows:
- Highest – £146,404 (up from £102,967 in 2015-16)
- Average – £3,747 (up from £3,386 last year)
- Median – £925 (down from £1,000 last year)
EAT:
The EAT figures show that 889 appeals were received in 2016–17 (down 8% on those received in 2015–16) of which only 26% reached a full hearing, with 42% being rejected with no reasonable prospect of success.
If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this blog further, please do not hesitate to contact one of our HR consultants. We supply not just commercially minded employment law advice and bespoke HR services, but a comprehensive employment tribunal representation service to our clients. Our experienced HR support consultants have defended thousands of claims over the years and will handle any claims you receive, ranging from straightforward unfair dismissals to complex discrimination cases.