Applications to the Isle of Man Employment & Equality Tribunal increased by more than 25% during 2025, recently released government figures have shown. There were 74 such applications in 2024 which increased to 93 during 2025, the highest figure in the past 5 years.

This information was recited in the General Registry’s 2025 Annual Report which marks the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of the General Registry in 1965. Introducing the annual report His Honour Deemster Andrew Corlett and Dr Stuart Quayle the Chief Registrar note that the Court’s new case management system went live in August 2025 albeit issues were identified and the transition placed additional demands on the organisation. The introduction concludes that the sustained effort required to support technological change did not detract from the fundamental General Registry role of supporting the Island’s judiciary in the delivery of justice. They state: “Against a backdrop of technological challenges, 2025 proved to be another demanding year for the General Registry, with increased case volumes and complexity across a range of jurisdictions in both the High Court and the Summary Courts.”

The reason for the sizeable increase in Employment & Equality Tribunal applications is not immediately evident but labour law continues to proliferate albeit the Island’s fundamental principles have been enshrined since the Employment Act 2006 of Tynwald. The Equality Act 2017 (fully enlivened in 2020) has undoubtedly increased the Tribunal’s workload granting as it does substantially more protection to categories of workers and employees who have protected characteristics by outlawing direct and indirect discrimination. While the Isle of Man has not reacted to the UK labour government introduction of the Employment Rights Act 2025 of Parliament (which re-writes some fundamental employment laws in England and Wales), Tynwald did pass the Employment (Amendment) Act 2024 effective 1 April 2025 which amended some key areas of local labour law such as whistleblowing protection and widening of statutory family leave provisions.

The Employment Tribunal process should be readily accessible to all and it seeks to offer a less formal environment than the High Court. Whereas some key provisions of High Court procedure are replicated in Tribunal rules, there tends to be a greater discretion afforded to the Tribunal Chairperson to handle complaints in a fair manner and in accordance with the general principles set out in “the overriding objective”. That is designed to codify how Tribunals should deal with a case justly including making sure the parties are on an equal footing, the case is handled proportionately and “avoiding unnecessary formality and seeking flexibility in the proceedings”. It is evident from Isle of Man Employment & Equality Tribunal judgments that chairpersons rely on this key flexibility to handle situations as they arise. It is also helpful for the Tribunal to have such flexibility because many parties appear without legal representation so may not be familiar with Tribunal process or substantive employment law.

It will be interesting to see how many applications our Tribunal receives during 2026 and whether the upward trend continues. The report is available here general-registry-annual-report-2025.pdf

Advocate John Aycock is head of the employment team at M&P Legal with 35 years’ experience of advising on labour law issues in three jurisdictions.

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