Employment Tribunal Claims are on the rise year on year and with the current economic climate Employees have nothing to lose by bringing a claim.
The Employment Tribunal and EAT Statistics which have just been released for the period 1st April 2007 to 31st March 2009 confirm that there has been a 30% rise in the number of Tribunal Claims accepted since 2006/2007 and a 39% rise since 2005/2006.
Amongst the most popular claims lodged were claims for Unfair Dismissal, Unauthorised Deduction of Wages, Breach of Contract, Equal pay and Sex Discrimination.
The average compensation awarded in 2007/2008 for Claimants were as follows:
- Unfair Dismissal £8,058
- Race Discrimination £14,566
- Sex Discrimination £11,263
- Disability Discrimination £19,523
Could your business afford such a loss?
Given the global recession an increasing number of employers have to look at saving costs. Measures an employer may have to consider include redundancy, freezing salaries, reductions in salary, lay off and short time working, reducing or abolishing overtime and the like.
With the increase in unemployment it is anticipated that we will see yet a further rise in the number of Employment Tribunal Claims.
At the end of the day an Employee has very little to lose by bringing a claim. There is no issue fee to pay and it is only in very exceptional circumstances that an Employment Tribunal will make an order for costs. When exercising its discretion to do so it can take into account the financial means of a Claimant.
Our Employment Team can help mitigate the potential risk to you of a Claim bringing bought by ensuring that you comply with current legislation and protect you from ending up in the Employment Tribunal for non-compliance.
It is particularly important to seek advice if you are looking at disciplining an employee for misconduct or poor performance or dealing with an internal grievance as the new Employment Act 2008 which has effect from 6th April 2009 abolishes the Statutory Dispute Resolution Procedures and replaces this with a new Code of Conduct.
Mitigate your potential loss by contacting Claire Fogarty or any member of our Employment Team.
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