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Lies, damned lies and statistics – Employment Tribunal claim facts and figures
Monday, 12 September 2011 00:00
Each year the Ministry of Justice publishes statistics about Employment Tribunal claims brought in England and Wales. These sorts of things excite us lawyers so we thought we'd share them with you. The statistics make for interesting reading, in particular in relating to the average award and costs orders, but only really tell half the story.
The headline statistics are as follows:
1. There were 218,000 claims received by Employment Tribunals, representing an 8% decrease on the previous year, but a 44% increase on claims received in 2008/2009.
2. The number of claims disposed of reached 122,800, representing a 9% increase on the previous year. The claims that increased in number related to the Working Time Directive (up 20%), Part-Time Workers Regulations (which nearly trebled) and age discrimination (up 32%).
3. Of the claims disposed of by Employment Tribunals, only 12% were successful, 29% the subject of Acas-conciliated settlements and 32% were withdrawn. Although the report doesn't say so, some of the remaining 27% will represent victories for Respondents at hearings with the remainder being claims dismissed on settlement.
4. The average tribunal award in claims of unfair dismissal was £8,924; the average awards for discrimination, except on grounds of age, were between £8,515 (religious discrimination) and £14,137 (disability discrimination). The average award for age discrimination was much higher than any other type of discrimination at £30,289.
5. 355 costs awards were made in favour of respondents, while only 132 costs awards were made in favour of claimants.
Those cases which are listed as withdrawn may also include cases which are settled in other ways than ACAS (such as compromise agreements).
It is interesting to see that the vast majority of Claimants are unsuccessful at a final hearing and that the majority of claims are settled in advance or never reach a trial at all. Employers will also note that whilst only around 1% of cases which reach a final hearing are the subject of costs orders against either the Claimant or the Respondent, this figure is increasing. This represents an additional risk for both Claimants (who might believe the process to be risk free) and Respondents who do not anticipate having to pay the Claimant's costs as well if the Claimant wins.
These figures do however tell only half the truth (hence the title of this article). The reality is that most claims are of a low value and relate to things like holiday pay or unlawful deductions from wage. This has the effect of reducing the average award figure. Successful high value claims exist but there are simply fewer of them. Successful unfair dismissal and discrimination claims of whatever nature can be very expensive for employers. This is reflected in the types of cases we deal with and reports we see of six-figure tribunal awards. We have also seen reports of five and six-figure costs awards.
The statistics in the report generally represent our experience of tribunal claims over the last few years. Employers should note the significant increase in value of age discrimination claims. This is a clear warning to employers to ensure that they comply with the changes which came into force on 1st April 2011 and which take effect from 1st October 2011. To help employers around this tricky area we are running our autumn seminars on the topic. More information on our seminars can be found here.
The full Ministry of Justice report can be found here.
For further information and advice, contact our experienced employment law team on 01392 207020 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .