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Workers in England and Wales would need to pay to bring cases to employment tribunals under government proposals published on Monday that drew an angry reaction from unions.
A previous fee regime for employment tribunal claims foundered in 2017 when the Supreme Court ruled that the charges prevented access to justice and breached both UK and EU law.
The number of cases brought by individuals had dropped by almost 70 per cent after the 2013 introduction of the charges, which ranged from £390 to £1,200 depending on the case.
Mike Freer, junior justice minister, said on Monday “modest” fees of £55 to bring a claim or to appeal against a ruling were justified “to ensure users are paying towards the running costs of the tribunals” and to encourage workers to settle disputes through conciliation.
The government argued the £55 fee was low enough to allow workers to pursue low value claims, which had been squeezed out under the previous fee regime. It added that there would be help available for those who could not afford the fee. The consultation is set to run until March 25.
The proposals drew an angry response from unions, who said the measures would allow employers to “ride roughshod” over staff.
“Introducing fees for tribunals puts yet another hurdle in the way of those seeking justice,” said Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress.
“Tribunal fees denied the poorest and most vulnerable access to justice. [They] were unfair then and they are still unfair today,” said Christina McAnea, general secretary of Unison, which led the previous challenge in the Supreme Court.
Research published last year by the Resolution Foundation think-tank showed the UK relied heavily on tribunals to enforce workers’ rights, given the country’s fragmented and thinly resourced system of labour market enforcement.
But very few cases of labour market violations make it to a tribunal. The think-tank found lowest paid workers, who were most likely to have their rights breached, were the least likely to make a claim.
The government said it expected the fees to generate between £1.3mn and £1.7mn a year from 2025-25 onwards, compared with the £80mn cost of running the employment tribunal in 2022-23.
