Data has revealed a significant rise in employment tribunals related to remote working as more employers ask staff to return to the office (RTO).
Employment tribunal records analysed by HR consultants Hamilton Nash show tribunals were 10.7 percent higher in 2024 than in 2023, revealing the impact of the RTO trend.
In 2024, 62 tribunals referenced remote working compared with 56 the previous year.
A number of household name employers encouraged staff to work from the office more frequently last year, including Asda, Boots, Barclays, Dell and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Before the pandemic, the average number of cases involving conflict over remote working was 7.6 a year. But between 2020 and 2024 this average rose to 41.2 a year.
Employer tribunal costs can be substantial. In the case of South Lanarkshire Council versus employee James Donnelly, the employer had enabled Donnelly to work from home during the pandemic. In 2022 the council required staff to be in the office one day a week. However, Donnelly had been assessed by occupational health doctors and deemed to only be fit for remote working due to health conditions.
Last year a tribunal found the council had breached its duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 and had victimised Donnelly. It awarded him over £16,300 in compensation, which included damages for injury to feelings and financial losses.
Jim Moore, employee relations expert at Hamilton Nash (pictured), said the rise in tribunal cases relating to remote working “should surprise no one”.
“Last year we saw a growing number of companies using increasingly authoritative methods to get their staff back to the office, despite the absence of any clear benefit to the businesses. Most of these conflicts didn’t get as far as the employment tribunal, and so the tribunal numbers are just the tip of the iceberg.
“The genie is out of the bottle, and many employees are reluctant to return to the wasted hours of commuting and diminished work-life balance.
“Businesses that force staff into the workplace against their will are likely to find that disputes escalate, resulting in an increasing turnover rate or costly legal remedies. A survey by the CIPD in January 2025 found that larger employers want employees to spend more time in the office.
“With most employees favouring a mix of office and home working, the battle for workers’ hearts and minds is going to be won by progressive employers who embrace hybrid working.
“Employees can resist returning to the office by filing flexible working requests. We’re expecting that more back-to-the-office mandates will result in more flexible working disputes ending up in tribunals.
“Labour’s Employment Rights Bill will require employers to explain why refusing a flexible working request is reasonable. Although the bill is unlikely to become law before 2026, it will only continue the battle in employment tribunals. This is a war that doesn’t look like it will end anytime soon.”
