Employment tribunals ‘have increased by 56 per cent’

Posted 11/07/2010

Employers have been reminded that they must adhere to employment law regulations after new figures show that the number of tribunals has increased.

According to the Tribunal Service, here were 236,100 receipts for employment tribunals in 2009/10, an increase of 56 per cent on the previous financial year.

Some 126,300 cases were for unfair dismissal, breach of contract or redundancy, a rise of 17 per cent.

Employment law specialist Katy Wedderburn told Business Insider that companies need to have clear and accessible policies in place, particularly in the case of redundancy.

“The figures indicate that there is a greater willingness among employees to raise claims against their employer,” she added.

Earlier this month, Axa’s Money Sickness Syndrome report showed that as more people face job losses and the impact of spending cuts, the number of Britons suffering from stress at work has soared to 42 million.

This applied to staff at all levels, with redundancy the main fear for employees, the research said.