By Josh Hornsey & Hilary Larter
|Published 13 July 2026
Employment tribunal statistics published for the period January to March 2026 show an overall increase in claim receipts and a decrease in claim disposals compared to the same period in 2025. The figures indicate that there are 531,000 claims outstanding, which represents an increase of 40,000 (8%) from the same period in the previous year.
Employment Tribunal claims are counted as received (receipts) once a tribunal has accepted a claim as valid. Claims are classed as either single or multiple claims. Single claims are brought by an individual employee, worker or applicant. Multiple claims are brought by two or more people 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 claims of disability discrimination and unfair dismissal. (On average, each claim includes between two and three jurisdictional complaints.)
The most recent published statistics do not include details on the levels of tribunal awards. These are usually published in the annual report, expected in September 2026.
We have compared the headline statistics from the quarterly report for Q4 2025/2026 with the equivalent statistics from Q4 2024/2025:
The tribunals are facing significant increases in the number of single claims. Potential claims are taking up to three months to be addressed by ACAS, and hearings in the tribunal are often listed as much as three years after the events complained of. Hearings are often cancelled due to a lack of judicial resources.
Many of those that go ahead require longer listing times as the complexity of claims is increasing given the lengthy submissions drafted by litigants in person, often with the help of generative AI.
Cases are now less likely to settle given the ACAS backlog, and there are significant risks for employers because witnesses may no longer be available for the hearing, or may have difficulty remembering the events complained of.
The tribunals have sought to manage the caseload by employing more part-time judges to hear cases virtually. The government plans additional resources for tribunals. Further administrative powers have been given to legal officers from 1 July 2026 to deal with matters such as postponements and extension of time. The Employment Rights Act 2025 will further increase claims by extending tribunal limitation periods from three to six months (effective October 2026), and reducing the unfair dismissal qualifying period to six months’ service (from January 2027).
