Employment analysis: A total of 17,822 claims were received by employment tribunals and 12,608 claims were disposed of, in the period from July to September 2022 (Q2 2022–23), with almost 500,000 claims outstanding at 30 September 2022, according to statistics published by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) in its latest quarterly report. Compared to Q2 2021–22, overall employment tribunal receipts decreased by 19%, disposals increased by 6% and caseload outstanding decreased by 3%. To assist with the outstanding backlog of claims, the MOJ also announced £2.85m funding and an increase to the days that judges can sit in employment tribunals.
The outstanding caseload has risen to its highest level since Q4 of 2013/14. The outlook for Employment tribunals is varied. Here, receipts decreased, and disposals increased. The tribunal has still not registered the substantial increase to receipts expected after furlough ended, in line with wider reporting on unemployment. This tribunal received 7,800 single claim receipts and disposed of 7,100 single claim cases this quarter. This is consistent over the last 4 quarters. It is still too early to say if the post-covid recovery has peaked but it seems trends are beginning to stabilise.
There were 10,000 multiple claims received this quarter, a decrease of 32% compared to Q2 2021/22. Disposals increased by 24% over the same period, to 5,500 disposals. At the end of September 2022, multiple claims caseload outstanding stood at 448,000. Multiple claims tend to be more volatile as they can be skewed by a high number of claims against a single employer. The multiple claims received this quarter related to 600 multiple claim cases (averaging 18 claims per multiple case). This is up from 440 multiple cases in the same period a year ago, which had an average of 34 claims per case.
The peak seen in the disposal chart in Q3 2021/22 is due to a large spike in multiple claims. A dismissal judgment was issued in December 2021 for 48,000 British Airways claims covering 71,000 jurisdictions. These claims had been withdrawn over a number of years but given the volume and restrictions with the old case management system these had not been formally closed until now, hence the spike.
This provides summary information and comment on the subject areas covered. Where employment tribunal and appellate court cases are reported, the information does not set out all of the facts, the legal arguments presented and the judgments made in every aspect of the case. Employment law is subject to constant change either by statute or by interpretation by the courts. While every care has been taken in compiling this information, we cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions. Specialist legal advice must be taken on any legal issues that may arise before embarking upon any formal course of action.
