Employment Tribunal
Claims

Employment Tribunal Claims Procedure

The employment tribunal claims procedure is governed by the The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013.

Time Limits For Employment Tribunal Claims

• Dismissal & discrimination claims – 3 months
• Equal pay and statutory redundancy payment claims – 6 months
• Contractual redundancy payment claims – 3 months

Employment Tribunal Claims Procedure

• Claim form (known as “ET1”) lodged by Claimant to commence tribunal proceedings
• Respondent has 28 days to file a response (known as “ET3”). Should they fail to do so or the response be inadequate, then the tribunal will award “Judgment in Default”.
• Directions set down by tribunal (e.g. document exchange, exchange of witness statements, etc). A preliminary hearing may be held prior to setting down directions. This enables the tribunal to discuss what directions it should make with the parties. On occasions, the parties may even agree upon directions between themselves. They would then write to tribunal requesting that it makes a directions order in those terms
• Should a preliminary matter need addressing or further directions need setting down prior to the full hearing, the tribunal may schedule the matter for a preliminary hearing to deal with that issue.
• Full hearing – normally heard by either a judge alone or in some cases a panel of 3. A panel of 3 consists of a judge and 2 lay or “wing” members. The lay members would be one from an employer background, and the other from an employee background. The hearing itself usually follows the following course for each person giving evidence. It begins with the examination in chief in which the statements taken as read. This is followed by cross examination, and then re-examination. Once everyone has given evidence, each side then delivers its closing submissions. The tribunal’s decision can be unanimous or by majority. Where by majority, the judge has the casting vote should it be required. When delivering its decision, the tribunal usually provides oral reasons at the hearing. Written reasons can be requested by either party at the hearing or within 14 days of the date the Judgment was sent out

Reviews And Appeals

Should issues be raised regarding a Tribunal decision/Judgment or new evidence materialise, then the tribunal can review its decision. The review application must be lodged within 14 days of the Judgment being despatched.

Appeals can be made to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, but only on an error of law. This must be done within 42 days of written reasons for the Judgment being despatched. Where the judgment does not contain written reasons, then you should request them. This must be done within 14 days of the date upon which the judgment was sent to you. Once received, you must then appeal within 42 days of the date on which the written reasons are sent to you.

Employment Tribunal Fees Have Been Abolished

Employment Tribunal fees were introduced on the 29th July 2013. However, on the 26th July 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that those fees were illegal. Accordingly, all Employment Tribunal fees were abolished immediately forthwith with effect from the 26th July 2017. Accordingly, no Employment Tribunal fees now have to be paid of any kind whatsoever.

Settlement Agreement Specialists

Please note that we no longer handle  unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal, wrongful dismissal, or any other type of employment tribunal matter. We are settlement agreement specialialists, who handle settlement agreements on behalf of both employers and employees. We also handle non-contentious employment law matters.