Fears over fees that have halved tribunal claims Just 7,448 claims were begun in August compared with 24,782 in June and 17,153 in July, the final month before people wanting to go to tribunal were charged £160 or £250 to lodge a claim depending on its complexity, and £230 or £950 if the case goes ahead. However, union Unison is currently challenging the legality of the fees in the High Court, arguing that they are "immoral" and allow "unscrupulous employers to ride roughshod over the employment rights of their workers." Ms Burns warned that the claims could surge back to their previous levels if Unison wins its court case. "There is still considerable uncertainty as to whether the new fees are entirely lawful," she said. If they are abolished we're likely to see a sharp rise in employees pursuing litigation against their employers. In an attempt to reduce the number of claims that make it to tribunal, arbitration service ACAS is launching an early conciliation service in April, forcing employers to take an earlier view as to whether they are willing to negotiate a settlement. The British Chamber of Commerce welcomed the drop in claims. John Wastnage, head of employment at the industry body, said: "Research we carried out before the introduction of fees revealed the shocking fact that one in five of our members had been threatened with an employment claim in the previous three years. A third of them had settled [rather than go to tribunal] because they were afraid of damage to their reputation, to staff morale, and the cost and time away defending the claim. On the face of these figures the introduction of fees has absolutely made things better but we have to look at it in the long term, we could start to see claims creep up again. He added that eight out of ten companies threatened with a tribunal said they felt the process was weighted against them. Mr Wastnage added: "Tribunals are a nightmare for all parties involved and moves to reduce the number of them are to the good of all."