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. 2012โ13).
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 – ยฃ1,744,575
- Average – ยฃ16,543 (compared to ยฃ13,851 in 2015-16)
- Median – ยฃ7,521 (compared to ยฃ7,332 in 2015โ16).
Discrimination:
Awards were made in 158 discrimination cases (compared to 144 in 2015โ16), the largest being ยฃ456,434. These were further broken down as follows:
Sex Discrimination
- Highest award – ยฃ127,230
- Average award – ยฃ19,152 (down from ยฃ85,622 in 2015-16)
- Median award – was ยฃ8,381 (down from ยฃ13,500 in 2015โ16)
Race Discrimination
- Highest – ยฃ456,434
- Average – ยฃ36,853 (up from ยฃ14,185 in 2015โ16)
- Median – ยฃ13,141 (down from ยฃ13,760 in 2015-16)
Disability Discrimination
- Highest – ยฃ302,258
- Average – ยฃ31,988 (up from ยฃ21,729 in 2015โ16)
- Median – ยฃ10,235 (down from ยฃ11,309 in 2015-16)
Religion or Belief Discrimination
- Highest – ยฃ74,648
- Average – ยฃ20,344 (up from ยฃ19,647 in 2015โ16)
- Median – ยฃ12,045 (down from ยฃ16,147 in 2015-16)
Sexual Orientation Discrimination
- Highest – ยฃ8,4609
- Average – ยฃ6,026 (down from ยฃ20,192 in 2015โ16)
- Median – ยฃ6,314 (down from ยฃ20,192 in 2015-16)
Age Discrimination
- Highest – ยฃ154,309
- Average – ยฃ35,663 (up from ยฃ9,025 in 2015โ16)
- Median – ยฃ15,198 (up from ยฃ8,417 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 – ยฃ146,404 (up from ยฃ102,967 in 2015-16)
- Average – ยฃ3,747 (up from ยฃ3,386 last year)
- Median – ยฃ925 (down from ยฃ1,000 last year)
EAT:
The EAT figures show that 889 appeals were received in 2016โ17 (down 8% on those received in 2015โ16) 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.
