08th September 2010
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- What your next Tribunal claim will look like
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What your next Tribunal claim will look like
The Government’s periodic Survey of Employment Tribunal Applications was published earlier this year and makes shocking reading for employers.
According to the survey, claimants are more likely to be male (60%) and managers aged over 45. Nearly three quarters of all claims were in the private sector and employers of less than 24 people faced a greater proportion of claims. The average legal fees paid by employers was £8,009. The average employer sent four people to a Tribunal hearing for 1.7 days each.
58% of cases were settled before hearing at an average payment by the employer of £5,431 (on top of legal fees). Just about half of employers said that they had settled to save further cost. The average award against employers in a hearing was £12,052. Despite these high financial costs, the two most commonly quoted negative effects for employers were poor staff morale and stress for the individuals involved.
This was the first survey since 2003 and, as such, the first that could report on the effect of mediation. Only 7% of employers had used mediation; 40% of them had received an offer of mediation and turned it down. Of those that had used mediation the average cost was £2,000. Most mediators used were employment solicitors.
In unrelated news, the Daily Telegraph has reported research by law firm Dickinson Dees that Tribunal applications will rise by 46% to 370,000 over the next three years if current trends are unchanged.
