Employment tribunal claims up 17% due to COVID-19

City A.M. - 13 January 2021

The number of claims received by employment tribunals has jumped 17% in the last year to 42,392 up from 36,336 in the previous 12 months, says GQ|Littler, the specialist employment law firm (single claims, year-end September 30 2020).

GQ|Littler said the increase was “significantly faster” than the 7 per cent rise that occurred between 2017/18 and 2018/19.

GQ|Littler partner Philip Cameron said it was unrealistic to expect to go through a huge change in working practices and a severe economic downturn without creating a sharp rise in disputes between employers and employees. 

Cameron said there would likely be more employment claims along with more redundancies, adding: “Given the economic turbulence caused by Covid, it is expected that redundancy related claims will continue to flood the system when the furlough scheme ends.”

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