COMPLEX EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION AND INVESTIGATIONS
CD: What are some of the key trends and developments you have seen in employment law litigation over the past 18 months or so? How would you describe case levels?
Rabson: By the time employment disputes reach the employment tribunal, the type of claims being heard do not always reflect the trends we are seeing in real time. A recent Employment Lawyers Association survey has shown that more than 40 percent of lawyers are waiting more than a year for their clients’ cases to reach a hearing in the tribunal. As the pandemic has evolved, so too have the trends we have seen in internal disputes, and consequently, where such disputes cannot be resolved, in employment litigation. When the UK first went into lockdown in March 2020, the disputes we were seeing mostly related to redundancies and the immediate issues that arose as workforces transferred to remote working. The focus then quickly shifted to health and safety issues, changes to working terms or conditions, such as temporary reductions in pay or deferred bonuses, and questions being raised about the approach to furlough. As we move back to the physical workplace, we expect to see issues which may have been held back during lockdown to surface. We expect a steep rise in flexible working requests, and managers need to be joined up internally in how they respond to these.
Oct-Dec 2021 issue
Linklaters LLP