Workplace disputes have increased significantly as employers continue to adjust to new working patterns and economic pressures. Hybrid working, restructuring, discrimination concerns, and mental health issues are now the most common flashpoints. Together, they are creating a challenging environment for employers and contributing to sustained pressure on employment tribunals.

Hybrid Working: A Major Source of Conflict
As hybrid arrangements become the norm, disputes are increasing around:
• Inconsistency and communication: Uneven application of policies and unclear expectations are giving rise to claims of unfairness and indirect discrimination.
• Return-to-office mandates: Employees with caring responsibilities, disabilities, or long commutes often challenge rigid office-attendance requirements.
• Monitoring and surveillance: Expanded use of productivity tools has fuelled concerns about privacy and unfair performance assessment.
These issues have led to a rise in grievances, flexible-working disputes, and discrimination claims linked to hybrid-working decisions.

Redundancy: Economic Pressures Driving More Challenges
Restructuring across many sectors has triggered more disputes over:
• Unclear or unfair selection criteria
• Insufficient consultation
• Hybrid attendance or remote-working patterns used in scoring
• Lack of consideration of alternative roles
Employees frequently challenge redundancy decisions they see as rushed or predetermined, particularly where performance metrics were affected by the shift to hybrid working.

Discrimination Claims Increasing
Claims have grown in three key areas:
• Hybrid working inequalities: Carers, parents, and disabled staff often argue that rigid office policies disadvantage them.
• Redundancy impact: Groups with shared protected characteristics can be disproportionately affected, leading to indirect discrimination claims.
• Mental-health-related decisions: Poor handling of absence, return-to-work processes, or requests for adjustments often leads to disability discrimination disputes.
Greater awareness of employee rights means more situations escalate into formal claims.

Mental Health: The Fastest-Growing Cause of Disputes
More employees are reporting stress, anxiety, and burnout, often linked to workload, job insecurity, or hybrid arrangements. Disputes commonly arise from:
• Failures to consider or implement reasonable adjustments
• Mishandling sickness absence
• Disciplinary action without exploring underlying health issues
• Unaddressed complaints of bullying or overwork
Employers are expected to take a proactive, supportive approach to mental health, and failures can result in substantial liabilities.

Tribunal Backlogs Prolonging Conflict
Employment tribunal delays mean disputes take months or years to resolve. This increases financial pressure on employees and uncertainty for employers, often prolonging internal conflict.

Conclusion
The combination of hybrid-working tensions, economic restructuring, discrimination risks, and growing mental-health concerns has created a surge in workplace disputes. Clear policies, consistent decision-making, and early intervention are essential. For employers, preventative action and robust communication can significantly reduce the risk of grievances and claims; for advisers, this environment offers ongoing opportunities to support clients through policy development, audits, and dispute resolution.