The Justice Delayed: When Employment Tribunals Become a Five-Year Wait
There’s a story that’s been haunting me lately—one that goes beyond the headlines about legal backlogs and tribunal delays. It’s the story of Catriona Ball, a widow whose grief has been compounded by a system that seems to have forgotten the human cost of its inefficiencies. Her husband, Lewis, died in 2024, weeks after leaving a job he believed was harming his health. Catriona filed an unfair dismissal claim in 2025, only to be told her case wouldn’t be heard until 2029. Five years. Let that sink in. Five years of waiting for closure, for justice, for a chance to honor her husband’s memory.
What makes this particularly fascinating—and deeply troubling—is how Catriona’s story is not an outlier. It’s a symptom of a much larger crisis in England and Wales’ employment tribunal system. With a backlog of nearly 72,000 cases, tens of thousands of lives are on hold. Workers like Lewis, who felt they had no choice but to leave their jobs, are denied the swift resolution they deserve. Employers, too, are left in limbo, unable to move forward with certainty.
From my perspective, this isn’t just a bureaucratic failure—it’s a moral one. The Employment Lawyers’ Association (ELA) has called for radical change, and rightly so. Caspar Glynn KC, the ELA’s chair, points out that delays of this magnitude amount to ‘economic servitude’ for claimants. Personally, I think this phrase captures the essence of the problem. When someone loses their job and has to wait half a decade for their case to be heard, it’s not just their finances that suffer—it’s their mental health, their sense of justice, their ability to move on.
One thing that immediately stands out is the role of technology in this mess. You’d think artificial intelligence would streamline the process, right? Wrong. Instead, it’s exacerbating the problem. Litigants in person, unable to afford lawyers, are turning to AI for help. The result? Claims that used to be a few pages long are now sprawling 30- to 40-page documents. Judges are drowning in paperwork, and cases are taking even longer to resolve.
What many people don’t realize is that this isn’t just about inefficiency—it’s about access to justice. Catriona, for instance, will have to sell her family home to fund her case. Legal aid for employment tribunals is virtually non-existent, leaving people like her with no choice but to shoulder the financial burden. If you take a step back and think about it, this raises a deeper question: Is justice only for those who can afford it?
The ELA’s recommendations—a new dispute resolution body, AI-driven claim evaluation, and tiered caseloads—are a step in the right direction. But will they be enough? The Ministry of Justice promises more judges, virtual hearings, and digital systems, but these measures feel like band-aids on a gaping wound.
A detail that I find especially interesting is how this crisis reflects broader trends in the legal system. Complex discrimination and whistleblowing claims are on the rise, and they’re clogging up the courts. But what this really suggests is that workplaces are becoming more contentious, and the system isn’t equipped to handle it.
In my opinion, the employment tribunal backlog is a canary in the coal mine. It’s a warning sign of a legal system that’s failing to keep pace with the complexities of modern work. Workers and employers alike are paying the price, and stories like Catriona’s remind us that behind every case number is a human being whose life is being upended.
As I reflect on this, I can’t help but wonder: How many more lives will be put on hold before we see real change? The clock is ticking, and for people like Catriona, every day feels like an eternity.
Conclusion
The employment tribunal crisis isn’t just about delays—it’s about the erosion of trust in the justice system. Catriona’s story is a stark reminder that when justice is delayed, it’s often denied. Personally, I think this is a wake-up call for all of us. We need to demand better, not just for those caught in the backlog today, but for everyone who might find themselves in the same position tomorrow. Because in the end, justice shouldn’t be a luxury—it should be a right.
