Employment law is the body of law that governs the employee-employer relationship. Its purpose refers to all types off employment protection methods and oversees the rights of employees and employers in the workplace. One of the fastest-changing areas of the law in the UK, employment law influences business decisions, policies and procedures and is seen as the greatest influence on HR policies ‘accounting for a great deal of our time- 20% on average’, according to a CIPD survey (2002.)
In the past 30 years there has been a steady increase in the introduction of legislation’ (Daniels 2012, P.1). There is debate about the economic benefits of employment law, its impact on unemployment and perceived financial burden on employers. Small businesses may be less equipped to deal with increasing levels of regulation for example, family friendly policies. This may lead to businesses choosing to operate outside of the UK where employment law is less robust. According to the National Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses (2012), extending the right to request flexible working will simply increase administrative pressures on the smallest of businesses. One argument against this is, family friendly regulations help to create a working environment that is flexible, fair and attractive for employees.
There are over 80 types of employment law claims that can be brought to a tribunal, 186,300 claims were accepted by employment tribunals during 2011-12 this being a 15% fall on the number received the previous year and 21% lower than in 2009-10. (EAT statistics, 2011-12). The introduction of claimant fees by the government in July 2013 (Appendix ) alongside increased emphasis on mediation plus the economic climate and employees’ reluctance to challenge employers all have an impact on these figures.

Early conciliation via acas is compulsory prior to lodging a tribunal