On July 12 the Employment Tribunal Service published its annual report for the 2004/2005 financial year.

Perhaps the most interesting statistic in the report was confirmation of a 25 per cent decline in the number of tribunal claims registered - 86,181 last year compared with 115,042 the year before.

It is fair to say that the previous year, 2003/2004, bucked the downward trend in applications, which has continued during the past few years.

This blip was due principally to a number of multi-party equal pay cases brought against public sector employers.

There was also the fall-out from JobCentre worker Matthew Thompson's tribunal victory, in which he successfully argued that being required to wear a tie to work was sex discrimination.

That alone prompted more than 7,000 copycat claims.

Employers may perhaps be forgiven for congratulating themselves on having made no small contribution to the downward trend.

Perhaps businesses across the country are becoming better employers? Are bosses more alert than ever before to employment issues and, as a result, are dealing sensibly and sensitively with workforce concerns?

Perhaps the downward trend is symptomatic of a real improvement in industrial relations in recent years.

Then again, perhaps not.

Certain trade union leaders have been quick to point out that new statutory procedures that came into force last October may have had a part to play.

The rules, which mean that a disaffected employee now has to raise a formal written grievance with his employer and then meet in an attempt to resolve the matter, as opposed to simply ambushing the employer with an unforeseen tribunal claim, have been criticised as too complex and as deterring employees from bringing a claim.

It is perhaps surprising, then, that the new rules, which render dismissals automatically unfair where the employer has not followed procedure to the letter, have not - as yet at least - given rise to an increase in claims and that there is no sign of the general downward trend coming to an end. It will be interesting to monitor the position in the longer term.

* Stephen Elliott is a solicitor in the employment team of North-East law firm Ward Hadaway. He can be contacted on 0191-204 4000 or by email at stephen.elliott@wardhadaway.com

Published: 19/07/2005