The increasing trend of hostile litigation by workers against their employer will continue in the New Year as the recession in the West Midlands goes on according to a senior employment lawyer.

Sally Morris, head of the employment law division at MFG Solicitors, says the risk of expensive litigation can be a headache for any employer.

"You can even be taken to tribunal by someone who has never worked for you because of what was deemed to be discrimination at the interview, insufficient pre-interview briefing, or inadequate procedures at it. There are a few people who make a good living out of this fact.

"The safest solution, if there are any doubts in a company's employment terms and contracts, is to seek legal advice in making them watertight. You need to follow rigid disciplinary and redundancy procedures. 

"You can still be left open to action if the proceedings are not documented properly and the outcome justified. There are numerous situations like these that employers need to be aware of. 

"This is all made worse by the fact that most cases taken before tribunals fall in favour of the employee. The onus is on the employer to show he or she hasn't done anything wrong.

"The number of claims is on the increase due to the credit crunch and other recessionary factors. 

"There were 189,348 claims brought to tribunal last year - up by 45,000 on the previous year and this is set to rise again this year

"Unless your recruitment policies and procedures are sufficiently robust, then you run the risk of falling prey to a professional litigant.

"You might even run the risk of missing out on recruiting the best people because your terms of contract and employment read as though they are poorly conceived."