Employment tribunal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Employment tribunal - Essay Example According to statistics released by the Employment Tribunals Service, the claims accepted by tribunals in 2006 totaled 115,039. This figure showed a great improvement from the previous year when only 86,181 claims had been accepted. Of the claims that were accepted in 2006, 18% of them got a successful full hearing. The rest were withdrawn, settled, disposed of or unsuccessful. The tribunals passed an average award for unfair dismissal cases of 8,679 pounds. For successful discrimination cases, the average award was set at between 5,540 and 9020 pounds. A total of 867 decisions made by Employment tribunals were later appealed, of which only 298 cases were allowed. The rest were either withdrawn or dismissed (Edge, 2008). These statistics clearly indicate that although the tribunals were formed to help employees and employers solve any disputes among themselves in an amicable manner, it has not been an easy task to carry out this duty (Selwyn, 2006). One of the main issues that have b een hampering the effectiveness of the employment Tribunals in the UK is lack of independence. There are normally too many vested interests within the tribunals themselves. It is quite common to find some employers or their lawyers influencing tribunal proceedings so as to get the outcome they want.