Employment tribunal delays

The average time between an employee starting a claim at the tribunal, and the first hearing, is 49 weeks (a 50% increase in waiting times since 2018).

In complicated cases, that doesn’t mean a final hearing. It can take 49 weeks until a judge simply meets the two sides and sets a timetable for a full hearing. 

In straightforward cases, such as an employee saying they haven’t been paid their normal wages, they have to wait nearly a year for a judge to decide whether they’re right.

Since there are (rarely) any interest or costs penalties for defending employment tribunal claims, this delay incentivises bad employers not to pay the employee what they are owed  such as final salary payments, since they know it will take a year before anything can be done about it. 

Meanwhile, according to separate statistics issued by the government, for the first time there is a backlog of over 50,000 employment tribunal claims awaiting a hearing or decision, with the number increasing each month.