Tribunal system capacity

The Act extends limitation periods for employment tribunal claims from three to six months across multiple causes of action, directly increasing claim volumes. The Act also creates multiple new causes of action (zero-hours offers, shift notice failures, manipulation of hours, defective notices), each with bespoke six-month limitation and compensation parameters.

a large building with a spire with Royal Courts of Justice in the background

At the same time as introducing the new claims, the removal of the cap on unfair dismissal compensation is likely to increase the number of claims brought by high earning individuals.

To add to the pressure on tribunals, the Government's proposed ban on non disclosure agreements (NDAs) could well mean that employers will feel compelled to fight claims rather than face the risk of settling a claim only to be judged in the court of public opinion when the individual airs their complaints on social media.

The tribunal capacity crisis threatens to undermine the Act's enforcement architecture. Doubling limitation periods will increase the pool of potential claims, and new causes of action will add to case volumes. If even five per cent of the UK's estimated 1.5 million zero-hours workers bring claims in the first year, tribunals would face approximately 75,000 additional cases.

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The timing mismatch between harm and hearing creates perverse outcomes. A worker denied a shift-payment of, say, £100 in January 2026 may not secure a tribunal hearing until late 2027 or early 2028. The compensation recovered, even if successful, may not justify the time and stress of litigation, particularly for unrepresented claimants. This practical deterrence may encourage employer non-compliance: if the risk of enforcement is low and delayed, why invest in complex compliance systems?

The Government has indicated that the Fair Work Agency will complement tribunal enforcement, but the Agency's model remains undefined. Will it have proactive inspection powers? Can it impose administrative penalties without tribunal proceedings? How will it prioritise cases across multiple new rights? Without answers, employers cannot assess their true enforcement risk.

“Without timely and pragmatic secondary legislation and improved tribunal capacity, the risk is a wide compliance gap.”