The Ministry of Justice have recently released the latest tribunal statistics covering January to March 2025. And, wherever you look in the data, one thing is clear, employment tribunal claims are continuing to rise.
What do the statistics tell us?
According to the data, at the end of March 2025, the open employment tribunal caseload sat at 45,000 claims, an increase of 32% on the same time last year.
With unfair dismissal claims being the most common type of claim sitting at 22% of the total caseload, this backlog is only expected to increase further under the Government’s plans to give employees the day one right to claim unfair dismissal — remember, currently, employees need to have at least two years’ service in order to claim ordinary unfair dismissal.
But it’s not just unfair dismissal claims to worry about, breach of contract and disability discrimination claims make up the remainder of the top three types of claims at 14% and 13% of the total respectively.
Incidentally, during January to March of this year, disability discrimination claims saw the biggest increase, rising almost 28% on the previous quarter, with a total of 2231 claims during the period. It matches the number of successful disability discrimination claims we see in everyday press – particularly those centring around neurodiversity. The upward trend highlights the risk of employers not fully understanding their obligations to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, particularly when they aren’t as clear cut as they are for a physical disability for example. For more info on this, see the article Neurodiversity and the duty to make reasonable adjustments in this month’s issue.
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Redundancy pay and working time directive claims both also saw significant rises in January to March with them both increasing by around 25% to 484 and 1232 respectively.
The increase in redundancy pay claims could be attributed to the increase in redundancies overall. And with more job losses expected over the coming months it’s important for employers to be aware of the correct redundancy process and when an employee may be entitled to redundancy pay.
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Outside of these top hitters, it’s worth noting that discrimination claims overall saw a marked upward trend, making up around 30% of the total claims for the period, a more than 15% increase on the previous quarter.
What does this mean for the tribunal system and employers?
These figures, alongside the continued progression of the Employment Rights Bill, have sparked calls for the Government to intervene and provide support to the employment tribunal system before the situation worsens.
The Chancellor’s Spending Review in June included a £450 million per year additional investment in the court system but it’s unclear how much, if any, of this will make its way to employment tribunals.
The continued rise in employment tribunal claims highlights the need for businesses to be compliant with the law, reducing the chance of facing costly legal action.
