Employment Tribunal Solicitors

Employment Law Tribunals

An Employment Tribunal functions in a similar way to the County Court and is an independent judicial body that is used to determine the outcome of employment disputes. This can include the following types of employment law disputes:

• Redundancy
• Unfair Dismissal
• Discrimination
• National Minimum Wage disputes

Breach of Contract Claims

If your claim relates to a breach of contract (such as wrongful dismissal) you can only recover compensation up to the value of £25,000. Therefore most breach of contract claims are made in the County Court not the Employment Tribunal.

Time Limits

Much like a court you must follow procedures and time limits to make a claim to an Employment Tribunal. Usually the time limit to make a claim for unfair dismissal is three months from the date of the dismissal. In other cases you will need to have been employed for at least one year, but different rules and time limits can apply to different types of employment law claim.

Before you issue a claim in an Employment Tribunal you should raise your complaint with your employer and allow them 28 days to respond. If you do not do this your claim might not be issued until you have done so.

Payment of Your Salary

In some cases you can make a claim for interim relief, that is payment of your salary or wages whils your claim through the Employment Tribunal is proceeding. This can include the following types of claims:

• Whistleblowing
• Dismissal for carrying out Health and Safety related activities when it is your role to do so
• Taking someone with you to a disciplinary or grievance hearing
• For acting as a workers representative
• For Trade Union related activities

A claim for interim relief should be made within 7 days of the date of your dismissal.

Next Steps

Once a claim is issued, ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) will try to resolve the dispute between the parties.

The person making the claim is known in Employment Tribunals as the 'Claimant', the person defending it as the 'Respondent'.

Three people will hear an Employment Tribunal case, one legally qualified chairman and two non qualified people from business and industry.

Once you have issued a claim, it can proceed through various types of hearings, from hearings where the Tribunal orders certain steps to be taken by the parties (such as to serve written witness statements), case management discussions (ie the steps needed to reach the final hearing) and setting a date for the final hearing.

Final Hearing

At the final hearing the court will review the evidence and listen to any evidence from witnesses, including the Claimant and the Respondent. Once the Employment Tribunal has listened to all of the evidence it will make its decision which can include:

• Reinstatement of an employee
• Compensation to the employee
• No compensation (eg for a fair dismissal)

Summary

This is only a brief summary of the Employment Tribunal procedure. If you are considering taking or defending any action in an Employment Tribunal please contact us for more information.

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