Recently published figures have revealed a sharp fall in the number of employment tribunal claims brought by employees.
The figures, which were published by the TUC, show that the number of working people challenging discrimination or unfair treatment at work has fallen by 9,000 a month since charges of up to £1,200 came in.
The analysis shows that in the year (2012-13) before tribunal fees were introduced, 16,000 people per month, on average, took a claim against their employer to tribunal. But in 2015-16, the average number of people taking claims had dropped to 7,000 a month.
This includes a drop of nearly three-quarters (-73%) for unfair dismissal claims. In addition, there have been sharp falls in challenges over sex discrimination (-71%), race discrimination (-58%) and disability discrimination (-54%).
According to the TUC, the total number of single claim cases has fallen by 69% overall between 2012/13 and 2015/16, and the number of multiple claim cases (where more than one person brings a claim against the same employer) has fallen by 79%.
The Ministry of Justice was due to publish a review on the impact of fees by the end of 2015. However, nearly a year on, nothing has happened. The TUC says the review must be published urgently and is calling on Theresa May and Phillip Hammond to abolish fees in this month’s Autumn Statement.
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