The report from the Employment Appeals Tribunal into claims made between 2008 and 2009 showed that a failure to inform and consult on redundancy led to a rise in those types of Tribunal claims, despite cases falling overall.

Key findings from the EAT report into tribunals from 2008-2009 revealed an overall decrease in claims accepted by the Tribunals of 20%. Employment Tribunals accepted 151,000 claims in 2008-9. For the previous year the figure was 189,300.

Regarding the reason for claims, there was a rise in cases for unfair dismissal, up 29% and breach of contract was up too, by 31%. Perhaps unsurprisingly, redundancy pay claims were up by 48%.

Failure to inform and consult on redundancy was also up and is now 2.5 times the figure it was in 2007-8.

There were falls in Working Time Directive (although there were a high number of resubmitted claims in the year previously, 2007-8, which pushed up the figures) and equal pay claims were down by 27%. Sex discrimination was also down by 31%.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) received 1,794 appeals and disposed of 1,933. In 2007-8 it received 1,841 and disposed of 2,026. Of these, 418 appeals were disposed of at a full hearing, compared to 466
in 2007/8.

The number of appeals rejected at the ‘sift stage’, demmed as having no reasonable prospect of success, increased from 888 in 2007-8 to 927. This meant that for the first time these discarded claims exceeded half the number of appeals received, indicating a concerning move towards claiming without basis.