Unison to fight on after losing second case on employment tribunal fees

Unison has vowed to continue its battle over employment tribunal fees after today [17 December] losing a second High Court judicial review on the issue.

The union said the Court of Appeal had already agreed to hear its appeal of the first High Court decision over tribunal fees.

The Court of Appeal hearing was stayed in light of new evidence showing a major drop in tribunal claims which resulted in the second judicial review hearing.

Unison said it would seek to join these appeals and obtain an expedited hearing.

General Secretary Dave Prentis said: "The High Court's decision is disappointing but we will fight on and do everything possible to ensure that these punitive fees introduced by the government are abolished.

"Today's ruling is a real missed opportunity to ensure that all workers can afford to bring an employment tribunal claim. Since the introduction of fees last year, thousands of workers have been priced out of justice and we must not let this continue to happen."

According to the union, prior to the introduction of fees on 29 July 2013, the Employment Tribunals received an average of 48,000 new claims per quarter.

But the most recent quarterly figures for July to September 2014 – provided by the Ministry of Justice – showed that in that quarter there were 13,612 new claims; 66% fewer than the number of claims lodged in the same period of 2013, when fees were payable.

Unison has sought to argue in the judicial reviews that the introduction of fees would deny access to justice for workers treated unfairly by employers and would therefore be unlawful.

It also claimed that the introduction of fees had a disproportionate impact on women.