Business bosses are at greater risk than ever of finding themselves facing a barrage of employment tribunals after new figures revealed a 56 per cent increase in claims in the last year.
The huge increase in cases, up from 151,000 in 2008-09 to 236,100 until the end of March this year, has been blamed on the recession as companies shed staff, change working patterns and try to cut costs without adhering to the strict rules on employment law.

The biggest increase in complaints has been from employees seeking compensation under the Working Time Directive and over the deduction of wages and redundancy payouts.

According to official figures Working Time Directive claims saw a staggering increase of 300 per cent, up to 95,000 from 24,000 last year, while deduction of wages claims doubled from 33,000 to 75,000. Redundancy pay and unfair dismissal claims saw rises of 9,000 and 5,000 respectively while   discrimination cases on the grounds of disability, race, religion, belief and sexual orientation also increased, as did straightforward unfair dismissal cases which accounted for 51,000 claims.

A shortage of jobs for graduates combined with a growing entrepreneurial culture is helping to create a new generation of 'go-getters' willing and eager to go into business, claims new research.
Almost a third of UK students claim the difficulty in getting a job after leaving university has prompted them to consider seriously the idea of working for themselves.

New research found that almost a quarter of students (23 per cent) are either already running or about to launch their own enterprise before they even leave full-time education.
A survey of students graduating in 2010 and 2011 has revealed a strong entrepreneurial spirit with almost one third (32%) claiming already to have a business idea and making plans to become entrepreneurs in the near future.