Wait times for Employment Tribunal claims have risen for the fourth year in a row to an average of 237 days

The average wait time for employment tribunal (ET) claims has risen again this year to an average of 237 days between employment tribunals receiving a claim and a hearing taking place.

In its Tribunal Statistics Quarterly, the Ministry of Justice reported that in 2019 the number of single ET claims received continue to rise following the abolition of ET fees in 2017.

The quarterly reported that “Single Employment Tribunal (ET) claims – receipts, disposals and caseload outstanding all increased, by 6%, 22% and 39% respectively, compared to a year ago. Multiple ET claims – receipts and caseload outstanding rose, 13% and 19% respectively, while disposals fell by 16%.”

ET wait times have risen now for the fourth year in a row from 195 days in 2015/16 to 237 in the most recent 2018/19 period.

Employment firm, GQ Littler, noted that the increase in claims have come at a time when the MoJ have had to contend with restricted government funding as well as the abolishment of ET fees.

Raoul Parekh, partner at GQ Littler, said if no material increase in funding arises then authorities may need to look at more creative solutions.

“For example, it has been suggested that a new stage could be introduced in the tribunals process where a judge assesses the potential compensation award and then employer and employee have a chance to settle for that value before a case is heard in court […]. This mirrors a tried and tested mechanism used in other civil disputes.”

The MoJ’s ET fee refund scheme, set up after the abolishment of fees in 2017, has reported 21,700 ET fee repayments as of March 2019.

“From the launch of the ET fee refund scheme to 31 March 2019, there were 22,000 applications for refunds received and 21,700 refund payments made, with a total value of £17.3m.”