If the backlog of Employment Tribunal claims continues to increase at the current rate, outstanding claims could pass 500,000 by spring, new analysis of Employment Tribunal data by Citizens Advice reveals.

Even this could be a conservative estimate, the charity is warning, as it does not include a potential rise in Employment Tribunal cases following the wave of redundancies expected as the furlough scheme draws to an end.

The charity’s analysis shows the backlog for individual cases has already passed the post-2008 financial crisis record, with 37,000 workers in the queue.

Latest figures show the average wait time for single claims related to discrimination and unfair dismissal is 38 weeks, meaning someone putting in a claim this month may not see their case heard until July 2021. Some cases will be subject to even longer waits.

Citizens Advice’s research has previously shown that disabled people, those asked to shield, and parents and carers are at least twice as likely to be facing redundancy as the rest of the working population. For many workers caught in the coronavirus redundancy crisis, Employment Tribunals will offer the only route to protecting their rights.

The charity has helped 28,000 people with redundancy issues since the March lockdown. Its frontline advisers have raised concerns over potential employment malpractice cases which could lead to a Tribunal, including:

• A person who was told they had to come into work despite needing to self-isolate because someone they lived with had tested positive for Coronavirus.
• A parent who believes they are at risk of redundancy over their colleague because their childcare responsibilities mean they can’t work overtime.
• A worker who was told they’d lost their job by text. They had been with their employer for more than two years and were entitled to a fair redundancy process, including a meeting.

Christine Trueman, an employment adviser at Citizens Advice Taunton, said she’s beginning to see more people who’ve been made redundant following whistleblowing about unsafe coronavirus practices in their workplace.

She said:

"By the time someone decides to pursue a Tribunal they're often already under a huge amount of stress. Then I have to warn them that the earliest they're likely to get a date is this time next year. If it's a complex case regarding discrimination, we're probably talking about 2022.

“The waiting and the complexity can grind people down until they're so scared and exhausted they withdraw their case. In my 12 years as an adviser I could count the number of meritless claims on one hand.”

Even before the pandemic, the Employment Tribunal system already had over 440,000 outstanding claims from both individuals and groups of employees. Between April and June, the number of cases being resolved – either through decision, settlement, withdrawal or dismissal – dropped by 56% to an 11-year low. Within this period, however, the proportion of people withdrawing their unfair dismissal case increased from 21% to 29% - equivalent to three in ten people withdrawing a claim.

Employment Tribunals have prioritised pandemic-related dismissal claims on health and safety grounds since June. The government has given an £80m boost to the Courts and Tribunal Service to help the courts system adapt during the pandemic, which includes funding to open temporary Nightingale Courts, three of which are hearing Employment Tribunals. The Ministry of Justice has also provided £5.4m to charities and law centres to help with legal issues in the pandemic.

Citizens Advice, however, believes additional emergency funding is needed to increase capacity further and ensure Employment Tribunals can clear the backlog. It is also urging the government to fast-track its plans to create a single enforcement body for employment rights, which would relieve pressure on employment tribunals.

Dame Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:

“Employment Tribunals ensure workers' rights are protected in some of the most serious cases, but right now they are facing the perfect storm of rising demand at a time of restricted capacity.

“We know that disabled people, those asked to shield, and parents and carers are at greater risk of redundancy. But if they want to challenge an unfair dismissal or discrimination they already face waiting nine months for their case to be heard, and the pandemic is only going to increase this.

“Workers who have been treated unfairly need to know employers that break the rules will no longer have lengthy waiting times on their side. Employment Tribunals need more emergency funding, and ultimately workers need a one-stop shop to protect their employment rights.”