Employment tribunal cases are surging...

Tribunal cases against employers are predicted to rise sharply, now fees have been abolished. But the way you equip your line managers will make a significant difference to the resulting risk.

It hasn’t taken long for the effects of the Supreme Court decision abolishing employment tribunal fees to be felt in HR departments across the UK.

Just a few weeks after the announcement, HR leaders are already hearing anecdotes of a sudden increase in workload – as staff, who may have nursed a concern for some time now feel emboldened to raise concerns and make a claim.

That’s understandable. The introduction of fees in 2013 was believed to have cut tribunal cases by as much as 70%. Restore that balance, and allow for a backlog of cases that hadn’t been raised in the intervening four years, and the number of claims facing the typical employer could conceivably double, or worse, in a very short space of time.