Unison’s landmark legal victory on employment tribunal fees has borne fruit with a huge rise in claims since the case, official figures reveal.
Ministry of Justice (MoJ) statistics released last week show an increase in single employment tribunal claims of up to 90% in the six months since July 2017, when the Supreme Court handed down its decision that the MoJ had unlawfully introduced the fees. The government abolished the fees and has since reimbursed claimants more than £2.7m.
Writing in this week’s NLJ, Steve Hynes, Legal Action Group (LAG) director, says LAG understand that some of the increase in individual claims will be attributable to employees of the supermarket chain ASDA bringing individual claims.
Nevertheless, Hynes says: ‘We are likely to see the figures for individual cases continue to rise. There is some evidence of a rising demand from the public for advice on employment law.’
