The annual statistics for employment tribunals for April 2010 to March 2011 have been published. Against the trend of recent years, the statistics show an 8 per cent fall in the number of claims received by tribunals overall when compared with 2010. The statistics, published by HM Courts and Tribunals Service, reveal that:
- the number of single claims received has fallen by 15 per cent over the period in question;
- the number of unfair dismissal and redundancy claims has fallen slightly;
- claims under the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 have nearly trebled; and
- age discrimination claims have risen by 32 per cent, bucking the trend for other protected characteristics.
Comment:
It is interestingly to see that the number of claims overall has decreased despite the continuing economic downturn. It might have been expected that redundancy and unfair dismissal claims would be up. The increase in age discrimination claims is likley to continue with the abolition of the default retirement age; indeed, once employees need 2 years service to claim unfair dismissal, most commentators expect the number of discrimination claims generally to rise as no qualifying period of service is required for such claims.