Employment Tribunal Claims Are Up 23% — Here's What's Driving It

The Ministry of Justice's tribunal statistics for the most recent quarter paint a striking picture. Single employment tribunal claims — that's individual cases, not the large-scale equal pay claims that can distort the figures — are up 23% compared to the same quarter last year.

To put that in context: that's roughly 45,000 single claims per quarter, up from around 37,000. ACAS early conciliation notifications have risen by a similar margin, suggesting the increase represents genuine new disputes rather than just a shift in how existing ones are handled.

The employment tribunal system was already under pressure. Average wait times for a full hearing in many regions exceed 12 months. The East London Tribunal Centre and Manchester have some of the longest waits. Adding 23% more claims to that pipeline isn't going to help.

So what's going on?

The post-pandemic restructuring that everyone assumed would be a 2022-2023 phenomenon has mutated rather than ended. Companies that survived the initial shock with furlough support and emergency lending are now dealing with the hangover: higher interest rates on that debt, changed consumer behaviour, and the ongoing shift to hybrid working.

What this means in practice is a steady stream of redundancies that don't always follow the rules. I've seen a clear pattern in the claims: employers making roles "redundant" while simultaneously advertising very similar positions. Or conducting redundancy consultations that are transparently a box-ticking exercise with the outcome already decided.

The sectors driving this are predictable — retail, hospitality, and commercial property services are heavily represented. But there's also a growing number from tech and financial services, where the combination of AI adoption and cost-cutting has created a second wave of layoffs that feels different from the first.

Unfair dismissal claims remain the single largest category, and they're climbing in line with the overall trend.

Here's something that doesn't get discussed enough: the cost-of-living crisis has changed people's tolerance for workplace mistreatment.

When everything's expensive — rent, food, energy, childcare — losing your job or having your hours cut isn't just inconvenient. It's a financial emergency. And when someone's in a financial emergency, they're much more likely to pursue a tribunal claim than they might have been five years ago when they could absorb the loss more easily.

There's a financial logic to it. If you've been unfairly dismissed and you're looking at months of job searching in a tight market, the potential tribunal award (median unfair dismissal award was around £13,500 in the last reported year) represents real money. The cost of filing? Nothing — there are no tribunal fees following the Supreme Court's 2017 Unison ruling that struck them down.

Free to file, real money at stake, and less to lose by trying. That combination is a powerful driver of claim volumes.

Discrimination claims across all protected characteristics have increased, but not uniformly. The standout categories are:

• Disability discrimination — up significantly, driven in part by disputes over reasonable adjustments for long-term health conditions including long Covid. The definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010 catches more situations than many employers realise.
• Sex discrimination and sexual harassment — the Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 introduced a new duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. This came into force in October 2024, and we're now seeing the first wave of claims under the new framework.
• Race discrimination — steady increase, with a notable rise in claims involving indirect discrimination and cultural insensitivity in the workplace.

The broader trend is one of awareness. People are better informed about their rights than they were even three years ago. Social media, legal information sites, and free resources from ACAS and Citizens Advice mean that workers who previously might have shrugged off discriminatory treatment now recognise it for what it is.

That's a good thing, even if it does put more pressure on an already stretched tribunal system.

Before you can file an employment tribunal claim, you must notify ACAS and go through early conciliation. This isn't optional — it's a legal requirement under Section 18A of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996.

ACAS's own figures are revealing. Early conciliation notifications are up, but the settlement rate has dipped slightly. This suggests that while more disputes are arising, fewer are being resolved without proceeding to tribunal. Why?

A few theories:

• Employer intransigence — companies under financial pressure are less willing to offer settlements, even when they know they're in the wrong. It's cheaper to gamble on the claimant giving up than to pay out immediately.
• Higher expectations — claimants are asking for larger settlements reflecting the increased cost of job loss. Employers aren't meeting those numbers.
• Principle claims — some discrimination claims aren't primarily about money. People want acknowledgement of wrongdoing, and ACAS conciliation can't provide that in the way a tribunal judgment can.

The ACAS conciliation window is one month (extendable by two weeks with consent). If conciliation fails, you receive an early conciliation certificate with a reference number, and you have one month from receipt to file your tribunal claim. Miss that deadline and you're likely out of time — the limitation rules are strict.

Let's be honest about the capacity problem. HMCTS has been promising improvements to the employment tribunal system for years, and to be fair, the move to video hearings during Covid did speed some things up. But the fundamental issue is one of resource: there aren't enough judges, there aren't enough hearing rooms, and the administrative backlog means that straightforward case management takes weeks instead of days.

For claimants, this means:

• Longer waits — 6-12 months to a preliminary hearing, 12-18 months to a full hearing in many regions. Some complex discrimination cases take over two years.
• More pressure to settle — defendants know that claimants facing a two-year wait may accept less just to get resolution.
• Document management headaches — disclosure, witness statements, and bundle preparation all happen against tight deadlines that don't account for the lengthy gaps between case management stages.

If you're considering an ET claim, go in with realistic expectations about timeline. Start collecting and organising your evidence now, even if the hearing is a year away. The better prepared you are, the stronger your negotiating position when settlement discussions come around — and they almost always do.

None of this should put you off filing a legitimate claim. The tribunal system exists for a reason, and a 23% increase in claims suggests that more people are using it — not that the system is broken.

Practical points if you're thinking about it:

• Act quickly — most ET claims have a 3-month less one day limitation period from the act complained of. That deadline is strict. Contact ACAS early conciliation as soon as you can.
• Document everything — contemporaneous notes, emails, meeting records. If it's not written down, it didn't happen (as far as the tribunal is concerned).
• Get the basics right — your ET1 form needs to be clear and accurate. A sloppy claim form doesn't inspire confidence in a judge.
• Consider representation — you don't need a lawyer for a tribunal (and legal aid isn't available for most employment cases), but free representation is available through some trade unions and organisations like the Free Representation Unit.
• Be realistic about outcomes — median awards vary hugely by claim type. Unfair dismissal might net you a few months' pay. Discrimination claims have no cap but require strong evidence. An honest assessment of your case early on saves grief later.

CourtPilot's employment tribunal tools can help with the preparation work — particularly structuring your ET1, organising evidence, and building a timeline. But the decision to file is yours, and it should be based on an honest assessment of the facts, not on anger alone.