BIS has published the 2013 Survey of employment tribunal applications which is the first comprehensive survey of tribunal users for five years. The survey found a number of things; some of which were surprising and others as expected. It is important to note however that the survey was conducted prior to the introduction of Employment Tribunal fees and it would be very interesting to see how these would impact on the findings in the next survey given we have seen the impact in the number of claims brought.
The report spanned 280 pages and collated information from 4000 employers and employees who were surveyed. The key findings are:
- 39% of employers have been involved in some kind of ET claim in the last two years;
- 33% of employers felt that an ET claim had a negative impact on the organisation;
- 15% of employers represented themselves compared to 24% for employees;
- 77% of Claimant’s felt it would be worth bringing a claim;
- 68% of those surveyed made offers to settle before a claim was brought;
- 54% of cases settled before reaching the final hearing;
- 14% of Claimant’s are awarded costs/expenses.
Interestingly 49% of those surveyed said they would be influenced by the fees involved in bringing a claim which is of course far lower than the statistics for the reduction in claims since they were reduced. A smaller percentage said that they would be completely put off by the Tribunal fees.
Written by
Laura Warrender
31st July 2014