Dispute resolution procedures falling short says survey

EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, and one of the UK’s leading providers of employment law services says that as a result there is now an urgent need for the recommendations of the Gibbons Review of employment dispute resolution to be implemented. According to the EEF’s survey of employment tribunal cases handled in 2006, which provides a leading indicator of national trends, the number of employment tribunal cases handled for member companies rose by a quarter from 1,227 in 2005 to 1,545 last year. EEF believes that the rise in the number cases in the last year may be largely due to: - The parties becoming more familiar with the rules - Pre-application procedures not having the desired effect of cutting down claim numbers The figures also show that disputes are still not being resolved before the legal process begins, despite the fact that very few proceed to a tribunal and, even fewer are eventually upheld. - 29% of all claims made were withdrawn by the claimant before reaching a hearing – an increase of 6% on last year. - A further 58% of applications were settled before reaching a hearing - Only 2% of claims were upheld by a tribunal. - The majority of settlements and tribunal awards remain relatively low. Peter Schofield, EEF director of employment & legal affairs, said: “These figures suggest that in spite of government efforts to reduce the number of tribunal claims, they are still running at too high a level. However our figures indicate that even when disputes go forward to a tribunal only a fraction are ever upheld meaning an awful lot of wasted time, effort and cost for both parties. “There is now an urgent need to take forward the recommendations of the Gibbons Review to ensure disputes can be resolved before making it to the starting grid of the legal process.” The report covers employment tribunal cases handled by EEF’s 11 regional Associations in 2006.