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As specialist employment lawyers we attend Employment Tribunals all the time. We represent clients in Employment Tribunals London and nationwide and have a very high success rate. One of the main reasons for our success is the knowledge and experience gained over 20 years. Many of our cases take place in Employment Tribunals London but we represent clients nationwide.
Below we have set out some useful information on Employment Tribunals. We explain how Employment Tribunals work and also how you can contact your nearest Employment Tribunal.
However, a warning: whilst it is possible for parties to represent themselves in Employment Tribunal this is rarely a good idea. Employment law and Employment Tribunal practice and procedure is much more complex than people realise. In fact we find that Employment Tribunals are often more complex than appearing in a court. In reality it can be disastrous for parties to represent themselves.
Using our experience against unrepresented parties we have set out below the most common mistakes made and further down we set out some guidance:
(1) Unrepresented parties commonly get the law wrong to such an extent that a claim or defence to a claim cannot possibly win. If a case has no merit in law an Employment Tribunal can make an Order that your claim/defence be struck out and that you pay the legal costs of your opponent. It is no excuse that you did not understand the law or that you did not research the law correctly.
Bear in mind that an Employment Tribunal is not there to reach a moral judgment on whether one party or another has behaved “badly” or “unfairly” as most lay people would understand it. It will decide whether the law has been broken by considering sections of relevant employment statutes (such as the Employment Rights Act 1996 (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/contents)) or the Equality Act 2010 (https://www.gov.uk/equality-act-2010-guidance). This requires a good technical understanding of the law in detail, including the latest reported cases.
(2) Parties without representation commonly do not make a claim or raise a defence that would win. Employment Tribunals require the case for each party to be set out in detail. Once the claim or defence has been set out it is very difficult to change it. So if a party does not set out their case according to the correct legal principles this will greatly weaken their case going forward. Very often it will reduce a very good case to one that cannot possibly win.
(3) Unrepresented parties often do not ask the correct questions of the other side, either during the preparation of the case or during the hearing itself. This is a skill that requires experience and a very good, detailed understanding of the law as well as in-depth knowledge of Employment Tribunals practice and procedure. If you do not ask the correct questions to support your claim the opposing party is allowed to argue that you have not put your case properly. This can lead to part or all of your case being struck out.
(4) It is often the case that unrepresented parties fail to obtain the correct documentation from the other side prior to the hearing. It is fairly common for parties to fail to disclose all of the documents that they should disclose prior to a hearing. There are ways to ensure that all documentation is properly searched for and disclosed to you prior to a hearing so that you can analyse it and comment on it or even ask for additional documents that will support your case further.
Without all of the relevant documentation the prospect of winning a case is greatly reduced. In fact it can mean that a case that should win does not, in fact, win.
(5) Parties without a lawyer fail to draft witness statements correctly, so that relevant evidence is not presented to the Tribunal in a way that is clear. Commonly unrepresented parties have a hopelessly unrealistic view of what a Tribunal can understand in a short time frame. It leads to an Employment Tribunal simply giving up trying to understand an unrepresented party’s case or worse completely misunderstanding it.
(6) Unrepresented parties fail to draft a Schedule of Loss or a Counter-Schedule of Loss correctly.
The Employment Tribunal will ask a Claimant how much is being claimed and to explain in a schedule the calculation for claiming the sum. This should be based on statutes such as the Employment Rights Act or the Equality Act and the subsequent case law.
Unrepresented Claimant’s will frequently draft a Schedule of Loss claiming huge sums that they are not permitted to claim, making the Employment Tribunal regard them as greedy or slightly deranged and fundamentally undermining them in front of the Employment Tribunal. By way of example, it is not uncommon to see an unrepresented Claimant hundreds of thousands of pounds or even millions. At the same time an unrepresented Claimant will not make a claim for compensation that they are perfectly entitled to claim.
An employer is often well-advised to submit a Counter-Schedule of Loss. Again this is based on legal principles and if cleverly drafted can ensure that compensation is kept to the minimum or nothing at all.
The above is just a small insight into the dangers of parties representing themselves. Many unrepresented parties do not realise their error until they get to the Employment Tribunal itself when they discover, to their horror, that they do not understand how to properly present their case as required by Employment Tribunal practice and procedure or the correct legal principles.
We would urge all parties to seek representation from a suitably experienced specialist employment lawyer, whether it is us or another firm.
If you are a Claimant and struggling to pay legal fees you should check to see if you have legal expenses insurance (this is often part of insurance policy, such as insurance for your home contents). We have also set out at the bottom of the page agencies that provide free advice.
If you are a Respondent you would be well advised to join our employer club. This is a subscription service that means that you pay a monthly fee for advice and representation at a reduced rate or without further charge. This can save you a lot of money and ensure that you receive high quality representation
THE BASICS OF AN EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL CLAIM
Employment Tribunals Practice and Procedure
Employment Tribunals London and nationwide are governed by the same rule. The Employment Tribunal claim is started by submission of a Claim form (ET1). The Respondent (the employer) to the claim has 28 days of receiving the claim form to lodge a Response Form (ET3).
There are many Employment Tribunals situated across the UK and we have set out below contact details for the main ones. There are three Employment Tribunals London (based in South London, Central London and East London).
At the hearing, there will either be an Employment Judge sitting alone or in discrimination claims there will be three members of the Employment Tribunal. The Employment, who sits in the middle, is usually a Barrister or Solicitor. Each side of him are “wing members” who usually come from either an employee or employer background respectively. All three are involved in making the final decision, which can be unanimous or by majority.
The party with the burden of proof starts and presents their evidence by calling witnesses who can either read out pre-prepared witness statements or more commonly the Employment Tribunal will read to themselves. These statements refer to a common bundle of documents. When the witness has read out the statement, the opposition representative can ask questions of that witness by way of cross-examination. The Tribunal can also ask questions.
Once all witnesses have been called, the opposition undertake the same exercise calling their witnesses who are subsequently cross examined. When this is concluded, either party has an opportunity of summing up their case and then the Tribunal retires to make its decision. It will either give the decision the same day or notify the parties in writing, called a reserved decision.
Employment Tribunal time limits
Most claims to Employment Tribunals must be made within very strict time limits. In most cases the Employment Tribunal must receive a claim within three months. In dismissal cases the three month period begins from the date that an employee’s employment ended.
In discrimination cases or complaints of non-payment of wages or holiday pay the three month period begins when the act you want to complain about occurred.
Period of service
In general, in order unfair dismissal an employee must have worked continuously for for not less than two years (if employment began on after 6 April 2012) or one year (if employment began on or before 5 April 2012).
Although generally at least one year’s continuous employment is needed to be able to bring an unfair dismissal claim, if the dismissal is for one of the reasons below there is no qualifying period.
These are known as automatically unfair reasons and they include:
Health and Safety dismissal
Pregnancy related dismissal (only if the employer was aware the employee was pregnant)
Dismissal related to asserting a statutory right
Dismissal relating to Trade union membership or non-membership
Dismissal in connection with the national minimum wage
Dismissal connected with refusing to exceed the 48-hour working week
Dismissal for whistleblowing
Employers and employees need to be aware that just because someone does not have one year’s service they are not automatically barred from bringing one of the above claims.
If the dismissal is related to discrimination on grounds of Age, Disability, Gender Re-assignment, Marriage and Civil Partnership, Pregnancy and Maternity, Race, Religion or Belief, Sex or Sexual Orientation, there is similarly no requirement to have worked one or two years service year and no limit on the amount of damages the Employment Tribunal can award for unfair dismissal.
EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS NATIONWIDE
Employment Tribunals are dotted throughout the UK. We represent clients in Employment Tribunals London as well as nationwide. Below is a list of main Employment Tribunals in which we represent clients:
EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS LONDON
East London Employment Tribunal
2nd Floor
Anchorage House
2 Clove Crescent
London
E14 2BE
Phone 0207 538 6161
Fax 0207 538 6210
London Central Employment Tribunal
Ground Floor
Victory House
30-34 Kingsway
London
WC2B 6EX
Phone 020 7273 8603
Fax 020 7273 8686
DX Address 141420 Bloomsbury
London South Employment Tribunal
Montague Court
101 London Road
West Croydon
CR0 2RF
Phone 020 8667 9131
Fax 020 8649 9470
DX Address 155062 Croydon 39
SOUTH EAST EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS
Ashford Employment Tribunal
The Regional Employment Judge is based in London South.
1st Floor
Ashford House
County Square Shopping Centre
Ashford
Kent
TN23 1YB
Phone 01233 621 346
Fax 01233 624 423
DX Address 157160 Ashford ( Kent ) 8
Bedford Employment Tribunal
Please note all Bedford claims are administered by:
Huntingdon Employment Tribunal
Huntingdon Law Courts
Walden Road
Huntingdon
PE29 3DW
Phone 01480 415600
Bury St Edmunds Employment Tribunal
The Regional Employment Judge is based in Huntingdon
100 Southgate Street
IP33 2AQ
Phone 01284 762 171
Fax 01284 706 064
Huntingdon Employment Tribunal
Huntingdon Law Courts
Walden Road
Huntingdon
PE29 3DW
Phone 01480 415600
Reading Employment Tribunal
5th Floor
30-31 Friar Street
Reading
RG1 1DX
Phone 0118 959 4917
Fax 0118 956 8066
DX Address 155830 Reading 31
Southampton Employment Tribunal
Southampton Magistrates Court
100 The Avenue
Southampton
Hampshire
SO17 1EY
DX 135986 Southampton 32
Phone 023 80 384200
Fax 0870 739 4190
Watford Employment Tribunal
3rd Floor
Radius House
51 Clarendon Road
Watford
WD17 1HP
Phone 01923 281 750
Fax 01923 281 781
DX Address 155650 Watford 3
MIDLANDS EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS
Birmingham Employment Tribunal
1-3 Newhall Street
Birmingham
B3 3NH
Phone 0121 236 6051
Fax 0121 236 6029
Leicester Employment Tribunal
The Regional Employment Judge is based in Nottingham.
5a New Walk
Leicester
LE1 6TE
Phone 0116 255 0099
Fax 0116 255 6099
Shrewsbury Employment Tribunal
The Regional Employment Judge is based in Birmingham.
Please note that Shrewsbury Employment Tribunal staff are based at :
Shrewsbury Tribunals Service
c/o Magistrates Court House
Preston Street
Shrewsbury Shropshire
England
SY2 5NX
Shrewsbury
All administration of Employment Tribunal claims for this
region are undertaken at the Birmingham office.
Please contact them with any Employment Tribunal query.
WEST ENGLAND EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS
Bristol Employment Tribunal
First floor
The Crescent Centre
Temple Back
Bristol
BS1 6EZ
Phone 0117 929 8261
Fax 0870 739 4009
Exeter Employment Tribunal
The Regional Employment Judge is based in Bristol
2nd Floor
Keble House
Southernhay Gardens
Exeter
EX1 1NT
Phone 01392 279665
Fax 0870 739 4436
NORTH EAST EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS
Manchester Employment Tribunal
Alexandra House
14-22 The Parsonage
Manchester
M3 2JA
Phone 0161 833 6100
Fax 0870 739 4433
DX Address 743570 Manchester 66
Liverpool Employment Tribunal
The Regional Employment Judge is based in Manchester.
Please note all Liverpool claims are administered by Manchester Employment Tribunal (see above).
Leeds Employment Tribunal
4th Floor
City Exchange
11 Albion Street
Leeds
LS1 5ES
Phone 0113 245 9741
Fax 0113 242 8843
DX Address 742940 Leeds 75
NORTH WEST EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS
Newcastle Employment Tribunal
Quayside House
110 Quayside
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 3DX
Phone 0191 260 6900
Fax 0870 739 4206
Email Newcastle Upon Tyne.
DX Address 742283 Newcastle U Tyne 35
Teesside Employment Tribunal
Hearing Centre Details for Teeside Magistrates Court
Nottingham
3rd Floor
Byron House
2a Maid Marian Way
Nottingham
NG1 6HS
Phone 0115 947 5701
Sheffield Employment Tribunal
The Regional Employment Judge is based in Leeds.
Please note all Sheffield claims are administered by:
Leeds Employment Tribunals
4th Floor
City Exchange
11 Albion Street
Leeds
LS1 5ES
Phone 0113 245 9741
Fax 0113 242 8843
DX Address 742940 Leeds 75
WALES EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS
Cardiff
Caradog House
1-6 St Andrews Place
Cardiff
CF10 3BE
Phone 02920 678 100
Fax 02920 225 906
DX Address 33027 Cardiff
FREE REPRESENTATION FOR CLAIMANTS
If you cannot afford representation you should try one of the following who have volunteers to represent you at Employment Tribunals London as well as nationwide.
The Free Representation Unit (http://www.thefru.org.uk/)
Citizens Advice Bureau (http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/)
Law Centres (http://www.lawcentres.org.uk/)