Statistics relating to the employment tribunals have recently been released for January – March 2025. The statistics provide a snap shot of the number and types of cases that have been dealt with in the employment tribunals during this period. The quarterly statistics for January to March 2025 show a significant increase in claims overall. Of note is that there are 491,000 claims outstanding, which is an increase of 48,000 from the same time last year.
Facts
Employment Tribunal claims are counted as received (receipts) once the tribunal has accepted the claim as valid. The statistics classify the claims into either single or multiple claims. Single claims are made by a sole employee/worker, relating to alleged breaches of employment rights. Multiple claims are where two or more people bring proceedings arising out of the same facts, usually against a common employer. They are usually processed administratively and managed judicially together. Both single and multiple claims can involve one or more jurisdictional complaints, for example, under age discrimination and equal pay (the average is between 2 and 3).
The statistics published do not include details on levels of awards. These would usually be published in the annual report, expected in September 2025.
We have compared headline statistics from the quarterly report published by the Ministry of Justice regarding employment tribunal claims for Q4 2024/2025 with the equivalent statistics from Q4 2023/2024:
- Employment tribunals received 42,000 single claim receipts in Q4 2024/2025 and 34,000 in Q4 2023/2024, an increase of 21%
- Tribunals disposed of 31,000 single claims in Q4 2024/2025 compared to 32,000 in in Q4 2023/2024, a decrease of 3.2%
- The total number of active single claims in Q4 2024/2025 was 45,000, an increase from 33,000 in Q4 2023/2024 (30.8%)
- There were 73,000 multiple cases received in Q4 2024/2025, which increased by 21.2% from 59,000 in Q4 2023/2024
- 37,000 multiple claims were disposed of in Q4 2024/2025, a decrease of 64.2% from 72,000 in Q4 2023/2024
- In Q4 2024/2025, the total number of open multiple claims was 446,000, compared with 410,000 in Q4 2023/2024, representing a decrease of 8.4%
- At the end of March 2025 there were 491,000 claims outstanding, 446,000 of which were multiple claims and 45,000 of which were single claims
- Outstanding caseload increased by 48,000 (10.3%) compared to Q4 2023/2024
What does this mean for employers?
These statistics show that, even though multiple claims (which often skew the data) have decreased, there are more claimants bringing claims in the tribunal compared to the same time last year. Further, the Tribunal appears to be disposing of fewer claims, which is likely contributing the current backlogs we have been experiencing (on which see further below). This upward trend is likely to further increase when the Employment Rights Bill takes effect. In particular, the proposal to extend the tribunal limitation period for most claims from three months to six months (expected in October 2026), and the proposal to make unfair dismissal a day one right (expected during 2027), are likely to generate a significant increase in claims.
The employment tribunal system is recognised to be experiencing significant backlogs, with some cases being listed in 2026 and more recently into 2027. For employers, this means that the life cycles of claims tend to be much longer. As a result, it can be more challenging for employers to defend claims given the passage of time from claim receipt through to hearing, and the impact on witnesses required to give evidence on events which may have taken place many months or even years earlier.
