The Confederation of British Industries (CBI) is looking to drive down the rise in the number of employment tribunals, which it claims is due to a compensation culture taking hold among employees.
The CBI said the business cost of tribunals had risen 50% over the past two years, from £426m in 1999 to £633m this year.
Director general of the CBI, Digby Jones, said in too many cases the tribunal system was the solution of first, rather than last, resort. Some 64% of applications last year came from employees who had not tried to resolve the problem directly with their employer.
“That is bad for employers, but it is also bad for employees who face a stressful court case and often find themselves out of a job or in lower-paying work,” said Jones.
But the Trade Union Congress (TUC) said the CBI was vastly exaggerating the extent of the problem. Its general secretary, John Monks, said: “Last year, out of a workforce of 23 million, just 130,000 people made tribunal claims.
The rise in the number of cases, he said, was due to many employers having inadequate grievance or disciplinary procedures, leaving employees with no choice but to take their bosses to court.
