Ministry of Justice reveals a 90% rise in employment law tribunal claims between October and December 2017 compared with the same period in 2016, prior to the abolition of fees. Tony McDonough reports

Employers across the Liverpool city region are being warned to follow their HR policies “to the letter’ as the abolition of fees for employment tribunals sends the number of claims soaring.

Figures published by the Ministry of Justice revealed a 90% rise in employment law tribunal claims between October and December 2017 compared with the same period in 2016, prior to the abolition of fees.

The latest statistics show that between October and December last year, 8,173 single claims were brought; an increase of 4,200 from the same period in 2016.

Charges ranging from £390 up to £1,200 were introduced by ministers five years ago to cut down on what they claimed was a rise in malicious, frivolous and vexatious claims encouraged by opportunist lawyers.

However, the trade union Unison brought a legal challenge against the fees claiming people on low incomes who felt they had a case for unfair dismissal were being denied justice.

Now Lindsey Knowles, a partner and employment law solicitor at Merseyside-based Kirwans law firm, said the removal of the fees last July has driven up the number of claims lodged at employment tribunals – and will put a microscope on how diligently organisations’ own policies are followed as a result.

The move, added Ms Knowles, means that employees who might previously have decided against bringing a case to tribunal because of the financial risk involved are now more likely to proceed with a claim.

She said: “The increased chance of legal action from wronged or disgruntled employees is a real issue for organisations.

“The backlog of claims means a prolonged period of time during which HR will have to invest valuable resources in preparing for each case, while the stress that could affect the managers involved puts businesses at real risk of losing staff to long-term sickness.”

Ms Knowles is urging firms to adopt the “prevention is better than cure” strategy, and head-off problems before they escalate. She added: “From investing in staff training to ensuring they know – and put into practice – every letter of their own policies and procedures, employers simply need to behave by the book.”