Claimants awaiting an employment tribunal hearing are currently being given dates as far off as 2030
Vast waiting times leave emotionally exhausted workers more likely to withdraw their claim or accept a meagre settlement
Dysfunctional system means rogue employers are more likely to get away with abuse, wage theft or wrongful dismissal
When justice secretary David Lammy announced unprecedented funding to clear the backlog in the criminal court system in February, he said his thoughts were with the “victims who are being left to wait three, four or five years for their day in court”.
Yet at the same time, resources were being cut from another part of the justice system where people are being kept waiting just as long. We have discovered that in Great Britain’s desperately under-resourced system of employment tribunals, the backlog is such that some hearings are already being scheduled for 2030.
And as Lammy removed all financial constraints for crown courts, he cut down the time being afforded to tribunal hearings.
According to meeting minutes we have seen, tribunals will be funded to sit for 34,590 days this year – 1,000 fewer than two years ago. The cut would have been three times as big were it not for last-minute funding from the Department of Business and Trade.
These cutbacks are set against a record-breaking backlog that reached more than 65,000 at the end of last year. That number is still rising. Changes in the new Employment Rights Act will mean nearly 7,000...
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