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The concealed cost of an employment tribunal

It’s HR focus week at Bdaily. Here, Helen Pedder, head of HR at ClearSky Business, analyses the cost of an employment tribunal.

With employment tribunal claims rocketing by over 81% in the last decade, only one in ten cases actually rule in favour of the claimant.

Regardless of these favourable odds, every tribunal claim leaves businesses facing a costly legal bill.

Disgruntled employees bite back

As worrying as it may sound, some employees have been known to lodge malicious claims against their employer, knowing full-well of their slim chance of success.

Take the recent case of a UK logistics firm who found a member of their staff to be committing expenses fraud, downloading pornography at work, stealing company property and even setting up a rival business with a competitor, in which he lured away one of the firm’s key customers.

The employee in question was dismissed for gross misconduct, yet he still took his ex-employer to tribunal on the grounds of disability discrimination.

The judge rejected his ludicrous claim and ruled in favour of the logistics firm; yet despite their win, the employer was still left to pay £30,000 in legal costs.

Tribunal claims that drag on…

Recent figures have revealed the alarming timescale of an employment tribunal, with claims being settled within an average of 24-weeks.

Such lengthy disputes would cripple many businesses, with most employers forgetting about the ‘extra’ costs that come with defending themselves during a case.

Another example saw BSkyB’s legal team become wrapped up in a 16-month-long race discrimination case. The court eventually ruled in favour of the employee, so not only did BSkyB have to pay £8,000 in compensation, but also tens of thousands in legal bills.

The ongoing ’tribunal fee’ debate

The recent introduction of employment tribunal fees hopes to discourage vengeful and malignant claims, to ultimately protect UK businesses and reduce taxpayer costs.

Despite new legislation, business owners must not be lured into a false sense of security.

It would be naive to think that claims would reduce over night, with tribunal cases still an ever-present threat to business owners that fail to comply with government legislation.

It’s crucial to have watertight HR policies and procedures; therefore seeking expert advice is a must to help safeguard your business from such potentially crippling claims.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by ClearSky Business .