Employment Law Update (July 2010)
Employment Tribunal claims continue to rise in the
recession
The recession seems to be having an impact on the number of
claims received by Employment Tribunals, according to Alan Philp,
Senior Litigator at Mentor. The headline figure for claims to
Employment Tribunals in the year ending 31st March 2010
show a massive 56% increase in claims over the previous year.
But Alan is keen to reassure that this is not as bad as it looks
– but still points to some worrying underlying trends.
"The headline figure is affected by a very large number of
airline working time claims, which are not the typical sort of
claim, Alan explains, "but unfair Dismissal claims have gone up by
9%, redundancy payment claims by a whopping 76% and claims in
connection with disputed wages have more than doubled".
"These statistics confirm our own experience here in the
Litigation department at Mentor. As the recession bites, and
employees who are dismissed find it more difficult to get new work,
they are more likely to bring claims for unfair dismissal, and to
dispute any money paid to them".
So, does Alan have any advice to help businesses avoid tribunal
claims?
"Mentor clients have access to guidance and support whenever
they need it from our telephone advice service and that must reduce
the odds of getting it wrong and receiving a claim", he says, "but
when they do get a claim, it's good to know our team of experienced
litigators are there to help".