The Director General of the CBI John Cridland has said that the current system of employment tribunals is "broken" and that "everybody other than the lawyers lose".

Commenting following criticism of the current system by a number of employers, Mr Cridland told Today presenter Evan Davis that, apart from a small number of "egregious" cases, "90 per cent would want proper conciliation and those cases should be nowhere near a court".

But Clive Howard, a partner with the claimant employment solicitors Russell Jones and Walker, insisted that there was no strong advantage to employees under current arrangements, adding: "This is not a level playing field as far as the claimants are concerned. They're facing the massive disadvantage of bringing the claim"

He said that a lot of claims are settled out of court because "it's a business environment. It's a business decision for employers to deal with." And he added that most individuals bring a claim without any support.

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