The Ministry of Justice has published the employment tribunal statistics for October to December 2025, which clearly highlight the continued substantial growth in the number of employment tribunal claims throughout the United Kingdom.
Single claims
- From October to December 2025, the employment tribunal received 13,000 single claims, representing an increase of 54% compared with the same period in 2024.
- The tribunal disposed of 5,700 single claim cases, a 34% decrease.
- There were 58,000 live single claims at the end of December 2025, an increase of 49% from the previous year.
Multiple claims
- Multiple claims arise when two or more individuals bring claims arising from the same facts. From October to December 2025, the employment tribunal received 9,500 multiple claims. This constitutes a 43% decrease compared with the same period last year.
- Disposals decreased by 49%, leaving 7,400 live multiple lead cases.
- An open caseload of 466,000 multiple claims at the end of December 2025 is an increase of 9% from December 2024.
Key takeaways
These figures demonstrate a sharp rise in the volume of new single employment tribunal claims, alongside a reduction in the number of cases being resolved during the same period. Taken together, this is reflected in a higher live caseload at the end of 2025 for both single and multiple claims. For those involved in employment tribunal proceedings, the data suggests that timetables remain under pressure.
Claims appear to be increasing for a number of different reasons, including the current economic climate and a greater awareness of employment rights and protections. An increase in the use of AI tools by unrepresented parties may also be contributing by lowering some of the practical barriers to raising a claim.
Looking ahead
It is widely anticipated that the implementation of the Employment Rights Act 2025 will lead to a surge in claims, resulting in additional pressure on the employment tribunal system.
- The extension of the time limit for bringing most tribunal claims from three to six months will provide individuals with a much longer period within which to prepare and submit their legal pleadings. The government’s impact assessment estimates that this will lead to a 5% increase in case numbers.
- Given that unfair dismissal is statistically the most common type of claim, the reduction in the qualifying period for bringing unfair dismissal claims from two years of continuous service to six months “represents the largest expected impact on the existing system” according to the government’s impact assessment. An extra 6.3 million employees will be protected from unfair dismissal from January 2027, resulting in an estimated 9,000 additional claims to ACAS (of which 3,000 will progress to a claim and 570 require judicial time).
- A number of other new and expanded rights and protections will lead to new types of tribunal claim. These include protection against third-party harassment and the right for zero and low-hours workers to guaranteed hours and to reasonable notice of shifts cancelled or changed at short notice.
- Various new trade union rights are coming into force – including workplace access for unions, a simplified statutory recognition procedure, and a duty on employers to inform workers of their right to join a union. Although the government believes that helping workers to organise collectively will assist in resolving workplace issues before they reach the employment tribunal, some of these new rights will result in tribunal claims.
These changes, alongside the introduction of the Fair Work Agency and its ability to bring claims on behalf of workers, are likely to further increase the number of employment tribunal claims.
For more information, or for assistance with tribunal litigation, please contact a member of Brodies’ Employment and Immigration team. For details of all the Employment Rights Act 2025 reforms, see our timeline and insights.
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