Statistics relating to the employment tribunals have recently been released for the Quarter, October - December 2024. The statistics provide a snapshot of the number and types of cases that have been dealt with in the employment tribunals during this period. The quarterly statistics for October to December 2024 show a slight increase in claims overall, an increase in single claims, and a decrease in multiple claims. Of note is that there are 467,000 claims outstanding.
The 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 age discrimination and equal pay (the average is between 2 and 3).
The statistics published do not include details on levels of awards but we would expect those to be published in the annual report, expected in September 2025.
Headline statistics from the quarterly report published by the Ministry of Justice regarding employment tribunal claims for Q3 2024/2025, which we have compared with statistics from Q3 2023/2024, are:
- Employment tribunals received 11,000 single claim receipts in Q3 2024/2025 and 8,100 in Q3 2023/2024, an increase of 36%
- Tribunals disposed of 9,600 single claims in Q3 2024/2025 compared to 7,100 in in Q3 2023/2024, an increase of 35%
- The total number of active single claims in Q3 2024/2025 was 43,000, an increase from 33,000 in Q3 2023/2024 (30%)
- There were 15,000 multiple cases received in Q3 2024/2025, which decreased by 6% from 16,000 in Q3 2023/2024
- 4,300 multiple claims were disposed of in Q3 2024/2025, a decrease of 81% from 23,000 in Q3 2023/2024
- In Q3 2024/2025, the total number of open multiple claims was 424,000, compared with 431,000 in Q3 2023/2024, representing a decrease of 1.6%
- At the end of December 2024, there were 467,000 claims outstanding, 424,000 of which were multiple claims and 43,000 of which were single claims
- Outstanding caseload increased by 3,000 (0.64%) compared to Q3 2023/2024
As well as the main statistics, the Ministry of Justice also released some statistics related to the types of claims and how they progressed. These only relate to single claims brought under the new HMCTS portal / Reform system so are not as reliable but do show that recently the highest amount of claims received (in terms of jurisdiction) are: unfair dismissal, breach of contract, disability discrimination, and unlawful deductions of wages.
What does this mean for employers?
We are often asked about the number of claims being issued and dealt with by the employment tribunal. These statistics show that more employees are bringing claims in the tribunal compared to the same time last year, despite the increase in single disposals and the decrease in multiple claims, which often skew the data. This upward trend is likely to further increase when the Employment Rights Bill is introduced (in particular when we consider the proposal to make unfair dismissal a day one right, which is expected to be introduced in autumn 2026, together with the proposal to extend the tribunal limitation period for most claims from three months to six months). These increases in claims will inevitably impact on the employment tribunals' ability to process and hear claims quickly.
