APPLICANTS TO the Employment Appeals Tribunal are facing delays of up to a year and a half before their cases can be heard.
Preliminary figures released by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation show the longest waiting times last year ranged from 52 weeks to 77 weeks.
In the case of hearings concerning redundancy claims, the wait was between 23.5 and 63.5 weeks.
Waiting times for specific parts of the country were not available.
Increases in applications in 2010 followed a trebling of the tribunal’s workload in 2009. Redundancy cases had more than doubled and there was an increase of more than 60 per cent in unfair dismissal cases.
The tribunal was set up in 1967 to provide a fair, inexpensive and informal means for individuals to seek remedies for alleged infringements of statutory employment rights. An applicant to the tribunal is not entitled to free legal aid and must pay for legal representation if he can afford it. He is sometimes supported by a union and his employer is usually represented by a barrister and or a solicitor.
One Dublin applicant, Ciarán Casey, said his solicitor started proceedings for an unfair dismissal action against his former employer last September.
He had been advised to expect his case to be heard at the end of February this year, but has since learned it will not go ahead until March or April 2012.
Employment law solicitor Philip Clarke, of Ledwidge Solicitors, said it was possible to apply to the tribunal for a speedier hearing on grounds such as hardship.
However, he said the tribunal appeared to be unable to deal with its caseload. “It is completely unacceptable to have basic entitlements caught in a logjam. If the delays continue, it may become a human rights issue.”
A department spokeswoman said waiting times had increased because of the economic downturn. The tribunal is taking measures to reduce waiting times, including a review of its IT system which is nearly 20 years old, she said.
