The Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) has renewed calls for “urgent government intervention” to address the growing backlog of employment tribunal cases. This follows a 32 percent increase in open cases, rising from 33,000 to 45,000 over the past year.
According to the latest tribunal statistics, this increase places further strain on a system that has resolved only around 32,000 individual claims annually for the past two years. With new workplace legislation, including the Employment Rights Bill, expected to introduce additional rights from as early as spring 2026, ELA is warning that the system will face “unsustainable pressure” without increased resources.
Earlier this month, a study by strategic advisory and communications consultancy FGS Global found that most UK employers are unprepared for new statutory obligations under the forthcoming Employment Rights Bill.
Delays in resolving disputes are already causing concern among employers, who must allocate more time and money to legal processes. ELA has described the situation as damaging to business productivity and access to justice alike.
New legislation could overwhelm the system
The upcoming Employment Rights Bill is expected to remove the two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims, allowing workers to bring such claims from their first day of employment. Unfair dismissal currently represents the largest share of tribunal claims at 22 percent. ELA warns that removing the qualifying period will likely result in a surge of new claims.
Caspar Glyn KC, Chair of the Employment Lawyers Association, said, “The Government is responsible for delivering timely justice to individuals and businesses. The tribunals cannot cope with the rising tide of employment litigation. Once the Employment Rights Bill is law, the tribunals will drown under the weight of the increased litigation created by the new rights.”
He added, “There is no point in the Government pursuing the policy of increasing workers’ rights if workers can’t enforce those rights in a reasonable period of time.”
ELA is calling for a series of practical steps to be taken now to prepare the tribunal system for the increased caseload. These include a greater number of judges sitting more frequently, structured judicial assessments to expedite resolutions, and increased funding for both judicial and administrative functions within the employment tribunal service.
Regional disparities and funding concerns
ELA also raised concerns about regional disparities in the impact of tribunal backlogs. The South and Southeast of England are said to be particularly affected, with insufficient distribution of judges exacerbating delays in these areas.
Although the Chancellor’s recent Spending Review included a pledge of £450 million in annual funding for the court system by 2028-29, ELA is pressing the Government to ensure that a fair share of this investment reaches the employment tribunals.
“The Government announced £450 million in its spending review to be spent on the courts,” said Glyn. “Unless a good proportion of this funding is made available to the employment tribunals, rather than only the criminal courts, then the new rights will be illusory.”
ELA added that the situation requires immediate attention before the implementation of additional employment rights under the forthcoming legislation – or employees and businesses alike will face prolonged delays and increased costs, which ELA fears would in turn erode trust in the employment justice system as a whole.