Plans Proposed to Cut Employment Tribunal Backlog

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In new plans underway, the representative body form Employment lawyers has come up with a potential solution to handle the ever-growing backlog of Tribunal cases.

The proposal was led by the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA), and called for compulsory mediation for all claims. To process claims more effectively, cases would be split between three different tracks based upon the value of each dispute.

Employment Tribunal backlog

The three tracks would be divided as follows:

Track One

For low (monetary) value claims under £20,000.

This lowest tier of claims would be handled by a legal officer and would only need to access a judge if required, with no ensuing fees or costs.

Track Two

For claims where up to two years’ worth of earnings are involved.

The ELA suggests that this tier of tribunal could limit issues tried. Hearings would be run for a maximum of five days, with restrictions on the volume of evidence permitted. Chances of success could be assessed by judges via compulsory early neutral evaluation. Financial penalties could be handed down where offers are made and not beaten.

Track Three

High value and complex claims.

These would be reserved for claims involving earnings of over two years, or those with multiple claimants. Such claims would be handled like High Court claims, with civil procedure rules.

A judge would be present, full disclosure would occur, and witness statements and evidence would be presented. A judgement would be issued and costs would be payable.

Association chair, Caspar Glyn KC, stated:

“ELA’s plan works by giving information to workers and employers so that they can be realistic about their cases, by encouraging meaningful settlement meetings, by giving powers to employment judges so that they can manage cases justly and by giving choices to workers the system will mean that everyone will get access to justice more quickly and effectively.”

According to research by the Employment Lawyers Association, the Tribunals system is already struggling to battle against the huge delays, which are only likely to get worse as it endures legislative and technological changes.

Outstanding cases are almost double what they were within the last five years – up from 32,000 to 60,000 since the autumn of 2022. Cases can be listed for full hearings up to five years from the event(s) which triggered them, with one delay being so prolonged that a key witness passed away before the final hearing.

A big factor in current delays is the requirement to hear every complaint brought by a claimant, which cannot be cut down. cases grow more complex with more evidence, and thus become much bigger and require more resources to process.

Discrimination and whistleblowing claims are more common in the current day, which are often complex and time consuming than other types of cases.

The introduction of AI has similarly been responsible for the increase in the number of documents presented for processing, which often contain a great deal of irrelevant information.

Sarah Fraser Butlin KC said:

“After your family, your job is the most important relationship in your life. When things go wrong, you want a quick, effective resolution. The employment tribunal system was set up to deliver just that. But no more.

“Cases are now being listed in some areas for 2030. This is not access to justice. Radical reform of employment tribunals is needed urgently. This is what the ELA proposals aim to do.”

Plans proposed to cut Employment Tribunal backlog

In new plans underway, the representative body form Employment lawyers has come up with a potential solution to handle the ever-growing backlog of Tribunal cases.

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