The number of single claims waiting to be dealt with by the Employment Tribunal reached a record 70,000 at the end of June, according to official figures published today.

Tribunal statistics for April to June 2026 from the Ministry of Justice show single claim receipts rose by 28 per cent compared with the same period last year, while disposals fell by 6 per cent.

The single claim open caseload rose by 51 per cent over the same period, which the release attributed to receipts continuing to exceed disposals over the past year. The ministry said the caseload had reached its highest level in the published series.

The tribunal received 14,000 single claims in the quarter and disposed of 6,100. Across single and multiple claims, 537,000 claims were open at the end of June.

Chloe Grant, senior associate at specialist workplace and disputes law firm Bellevue Law, said: “The latest Employment Tribunal statistics show a system buckling under the strain.”

Grant pointed to the rise in single claim receipts and the fall in disposals, which she said had pushed the open caseload to its record level. “This means more individual claims are waiting to be heard than ever before, with more than half a million claims now sitting in the Employment Tribunal system overall, leaving employers and employees alike facing longer waits, higher costs and prolonged uncertainty,” she said.

Multiple claim receipts fell by 19 per cent and disposals by 29 per cent compared with a year earlier, while open multiple claims rose by 3 per cent, the figures show.

The tribunal received 11,000 multiple claims in the quarter, within 500 lead cases, and disposed of 4,100. There were 467,000 open multiple claims at the end of June, across 7,600 open lead cases. The release notes that multiple claims can represent many individual cases linked to a single employer, which is why their volumes can change sharply from quarter to quarter.

In total, the tribunal received 25,000 claims and disposed of 10,000 in the three months to June. Business Matters reported last December that active claims, including single and multiple cases, had climbed to 515,000 by the end of September 2025.

The figures come as the Employment Rights Act 2025 is rolled out. Under the government’s implementation timeline, the time limit for bringing a claim to the Employment Tribunal will increase from three to six months on 1 October. For breach of employment contract claims in Scotland, the change takes place on 9 November.

The qualifying period for unfair dismissal will fall to six months for dismissals from 1 January 2027, when compensatory awards will also be uncapped.

“These figures arrive against the backdrop of some of the most significant employment law reforms in a generation. With limitation periods for most claims set to double from October 2026, and eligibility to bring unfair dismissal claims set to expand significantly from January 2027, Tribunals face the prospect of even greater demand in the years ahead,” Grant said.

She said legislative changes were not the only factor. “Growing awareness of employment rights, combined with AI-powered tools and easier access to legal information, mean it is easier than ever for individuals to identify and pursue potential claims. Taken together, these developments risk creating a perfect storm for a system that is already struggling to keep pace.”

Grant said: “More robust Tribunal case management, firmer ACAS intervention, and/or greater use of alternative dispute resolution may all help to resolve disputes sooner and reduce the number of cases for judges to determine, but such options would still require meaningful investment from the government, which doesn’t appear to be on the agenda.”

“Final hearings are already routinely being listed two or even three years after a claim is issued, meaning justice delayed risks becoming justice denied,” she added. “Without a major injection of additional resources, these figures raise serious questions about how the system will cope with what lies ahead.”

The next quarterly tribunal statistics are due on 10 December.

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