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At a glance:

• According to the ³ÉÈËÓ°Òô GLP Index, employment was one of the fastest growing practice areas of the law in 2020, at +6%
• Growth has been driven by increased contentious work (+17%) and increasing redundancies (+110%)
• As business support schemes are rolled back and unemployment increases, demand for employment law will increase in 2021.

The legal demand for employment exploded in 2020 as a direct result of the pandemic. During the first half of the year, managing the implementation of furlough schemes drove intense legal activity, according to the recently released ³ÉÈËÓ°Òô GLP Index, which used anonymised and aggregated data from the Bar Council. 

Some areas of employment law which generated growth in previous years have fallen significantly during the pandemic – sex discrimination (-26%) and equal pay claims (-36%) were in decline - while contentious work and redundancy work accelerated.  

READ THE LEXISNEXIS GLP INDEX REPORT FOR FREE IN-DEPTH INSIGHTS INTO EMPLOYMENT LAW AND OTHER LEGAL PRACTICE AREAS.

Key drivers for growth in employment

1) UK Government's Job Retention Scheme 

One major driver for the growth in employment law came from the UK Government's Job Retention Scheme. 

As of June 14, 2021, approximately 11.6 million jobs, from 1.3 million different employers, were furloughed in the UK as part of the scheme, according to  (see chart below).

Cumulative number of jobs furloughed under the job retention scheme in the United Kingdom between April 20, 2020 and June 14, 2021

When the furlough scheme was first put in place, it drove a huge demand in employment law work - and this demand continued throughout the first and much of the second half of 2020.

However, as these schemes have become business as usual, the legal work needed to support them is diminishing.

2) Job losses and redundancies 

We are now starting to see the long-expected wave of job losses and redundancies wash through, as companies reassess their employment policies and make longer-term resourcing decisions.

This is reflected in an increasing Q4 2020 redundancy rate (+213% vs Q4 2019). Unsurprisingly, the volume of contentious work has grown significantly during the course of COVID-19, given the difficult decisions companies have needed to make in response to the pandemic. Total cases are up +17% over the year, with claims for breach of contract (+4%) and unfair dismissal (+8%) also seeing growth.

3) Hiring new talent

While some businesses have struggled to cope with the changes bought on by the pandemic, others have undeniably thrived. Tech businesses specialising in video calling, payment or e-commerce software, for instance, have experienced rapid growth and are looking for fresh talent to fuel their growth plans.

However, with remote working, hybrid working and general changes to working patterns now widespread, many are looking at new ways to attract and retain talent and need the help of employment law experts to drive these initiatives forward.

Key recommendation

If ever there was a case to invest to grow, it exists here. Those working in employment law should press ahead with hiring or retraining staff to support the current workload and manage the current rush of work. The positive outlook should mean that any investment you make is at low risk of being stranded by changed market conditions and falling demand in the future.

Read more employment law insights by downloading the free ³ÉÈËÓ°Òô GLP Index report