Interim relief is a fast-track procedure available in the Employment Tribunal that allows a dismissed employee to apply for an order preserving their employment, or at least their pay and benefits, while their claim is determined. It only applies in limited circumstances (most notably where whistleblowing is alleged), but the delays in the Employment Tribunal system, and the fact that an employee does not have to repay the money even if they are ultimately unsuccessful at the final hearing, make interim relief a powerful tool in the litigation process.
Before leaving Mishcon to take up pupillage at 7BR, Suresh Patel of our Employment team reviewed several hundred Employment Tribunal judgments relating to applications for interim relief, producing what we believe to be the first comprehensive empirical study of its kind. Our research has identified the factors that have been shown to strengthen – and significantly weaken – interim relief applications.
The timing could not be more apt: as recently confirmed by Presidential Guidance issued in June 2026, interim relief applications have surged from approximately 20 per year nationwide to around 20 per month per Tribunal office, and the regime is increasingly prominent in the employment litigation landscape. However, the report identifies that just 7% of claimants succeeded in their applications. While a degree of difficulty should be expected, particularly given the substantial financial and tactical benefit the claimant stands to gain, the report questions whether the test may have silently become more difficult to satisfy, and whether a regime originally designed to prevent industrial unrest in the 1970s remains appropriate in an era dominated by whistleblowing claims and Tribunal backlogs running into years.
We are delighted that Protect, the leading UK whistleblowing charity, has written the foreword to the report, noting: "Mishcon has masterfully translated a complex mountain of data into a clear narrative, with immediately actionable findings."
Read the full report