Business owners have never faced a greater threat of being taken to tribunal, according to a leading employment lawyer.

David Jones, who has joined Kirwans as Head of Employment Law, said the tribunals were overrun with employment cases being brought by disgruntled employees.

David, who is based at the firm’s Liverpool office, said: “The number of employment tribunal cases is increasing year-on-year and the fear of being taken to court is now the number one concern of the majority of business owners.

“While access to justice is fundamental in the provision of legal services, in the employment arena, it has been hugely detrimental to business owners with employees now more aware than ever about their rights.

“This combined with the fact that it does not cost anything for a claimant to fire off a claim against an employer means that Britain’s bosses have never felt as under attack as they currently do.

“The law is firmly weighted in favour of employees in terms of the current costs regime, many of whom feel they have nothing to lose by taking on their employer. However, the potential damage to hard working business owners is enormous not just in terms of cost but also reputation, win or lose.

“All of this means that bosses literally feel under siege when instead they want to be concentrating on building their businesses at a time when a huge amount of uncertainty surrounds the economy.”

The number of claims accepted for hearing by tribunals soared by 56 per cent to 236,100 in the year to March and the service is braced for a further substantial rise as job cuts, particularly in the public sector, take effect.

Employment Tribunal Service figures show awards for successful unfair dismissal claims averaged £9,120 with a top award of £234,549. The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal cases has since been slashed to £65,300.