Impacts of employment tribunal fees: lessons from 2013

Recent reports suggest the Government plans to reintroduce employment tribunal fees, requiring workers to pay £55 to lodge a claim, aiming to recover part of the tribunal system’s £80m annual running cost.

Employment Partner Fudia Smartt spoke with Solicitors Journal and Benefits Expert about the rumoured change, which resembled a similar initiative a decade ago.

Fudia explained that when the Conservative government introduced similar fees in 2013, they were meant to deter frivolous claims and improve efficiency. Instead, claim volumes fell by 53 per cent in the first year, with women and low-paid workers the most affected. The Supreme Court later ruled the fees unlawful in 2017 for blocking access to justice.

Fudia noted that after the fees were removed, case volumes rose by up to 90 per cent, overwhelming a system that had already been scaled back.

“With cases being cancelled at short notice for lack of judge availability and longer hearings having to be listed years in advance, the wheels of justice are certainly slow moving in the employment tribunals,” she said.

Fudia warned that even a modest new fee could again deter low-paid workers from enforcing their rights.

“We have empirical evidence from 2013 which shows that even if the fee imposed is more modest than the one introduced in 2013, it will deter the lowest paid workers from enforcing their employment rights, particularly in this current turbulent economic climate.”

“It feels very out of kilter to suggest the introduction of fees, even if there will be help for the ‘most in need’. What is the point in making unfair dismissal a day one right, if low paid workers feel unable to exercise such a right?”

“It would be better for policymakers to explore imposing penalties or fines where parties are conducting litigation unreasonably. There are no easy answers to this but repeating the mistakes of the past does not feel like a sensible way forward.”

Read Fudia’s full comments in the articles by Solicitors Journal and Benefits Expert.