Employment tribunal claims ‘on the rise’

Increasing numbers of employment tribunal claims could cost UK employers £2.6 billion over the next three years, new research has predicted.

According to law firm Dickinson Dees, this cost is likely to come from the amount it will cost business leaders to defend themselves, teamed with payment of rewards.

The firm’s Employment Tribunal Trends Index has revealed that if current patterns continue, employers will face around 370,000 more tribunal cases in the next three years – 2011 to 2013 – than they did in the three years previous.

And these costs come as employers are already battling towards recovery following the recession.

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James Wilders, an employment partner at Dickinson Dees, said: “Legislation created in the UK is also a big cause of the relentless increase in tribunals and there is strong evidence that case numbers increase even faster in the years after new legislation is enacted.”

He added that should the proposed Equality Bill successfully go through Parliament, there could also be an increase in equal pay cases.

Elsewhere, research from Vodafone has claimed that the recession has acted as a wake up call for business leaders in the UK.

Posted by Cameron Thomson