Substantial increase in employment tribunal claims
The March 2026 publication of the quarterly employment tribunal statistics has shown a significant increase in the number of employment tribunal claims that are being made. The statistics cover October to December 2025. They show that 13,000 single claim cases were received during that period, while 5,700 were disposed of. There were 58,000 open single claim cases at the end of December 2025. There were 590 lead multiple cases (which related to many individual cases linked to a single employer) received during the same time period, and 340 disposed of. The number of open lead cases was over 7,400, representing an open caseload of 466,000 multiple claims.
There is already a significant backlog of claims, primarily in England. It is expected that the new rights to be introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 will place further pressure on the tribunal system. Some blame for the current increase has been the use of AI by unrepresented parties, resulting in overly complex and lengthy claims and responses, which require judicial time to resolve.
HSE statistics on lost working days in Great Britain
The 2024/25 Health and Safety Executive statistics show that stress, depression and anxiety accounted for 52% of all work-related ill health and 62% of all working days lost due to work-related ill health. That is a total of 22.1 million days being lost due to these conditions. The average number of days taken off by each person suffering from stress, depression or anxiety was 22.9 days, with an estimated 964,000 workers suffering from these conditions. Professional occupations had statistically significantly higher rates of work-related stress, depression and anxiety, compared to the rate of all occupational groups. The main factors cited as causing these conditions were workload pressures, including tight deadlines and too much responsibility, and a lack of managerial support.
"How to" videos produced for raising and defending employment tribunal claims
Employment Tribunal Judges in England and Wales have written and produced a series of videos to assist parties both bringing and defending employment tribunal claims. The majority of the videos are between 5 and 10 minutes long. They cover the basics of completing claim and response forms, explain some of the law relating to discrimination, whistleblowing and unfair dismissal, and provide guidance on preparing for some hearings. The videos are available here. It should be noted though that there are some differences between how hearings in Scotland proceed as compared to those in England and Wales.
Inquiry into AI, business and the future of the workforce launched
The Business and Trade Committee has launched an inquiry into AI to better understand the opportunities and costs of businesses and the workforce. The outcome of the inquiry will inform recommendations on UK government priorities. A Call for Evidence is seeking views on issues including how AI is likely to evolve over the next decade, where AI is being deployed and how it is being used, the infrastructure required to support use and how it impacts on work and workers. The inquiry is accepting evidence until 3 April 2026.
