Employment Tribunals hear employment disputes that have not been resolved in the workplace and their decision is legally binding.  With a 56% rise in Tribunal claims in 2010, Employment Tribunals (ET’s) have been in the news a lot lately!

A report in February 2011 said that Employers were facing more instances of “workplace unrest” as staff work longer and harder in the current climate, often without greater reward.  The rate of grievances brought by employees and the rate of sickness, absence and stress cases are rising, with the cause often given by Employees as poor relationships between them and management.

With an anticipation of even more Tribunal claims in 2011, and with Employers and Employer organisations saying that often employees make unjustifiable or malicious claims to the ET and that the Tribunal system is ‘broken’ and too costly, but with the TUC and Unions saying that it is a myth that workers abuse the tribunal system, in January 2011 the Government announced it was going to reform “workplace disputes” practices with the aim of encouraging both parties to resolve disputes themselves, to reduce the number of tribunal claims, and to speed up the claims that do arise.

Read our article here about potential changes to the Tribunal system in 2012.

Employees can take a claim to an ET for any of the reasons listed below. Employment Tribunals in Northern Ireland are still called Industrial Tribunals.   Workers and Freelancers have more limited circumstances to make a claim – we detail these below.

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You are always advised to try to resolve your problem with your Employer before lodging a claim at ET.  Both sides (employer and employee) can have unrealistic expectations of what will happen at an ET – Employees may want a chance to clear their name or force the employer to recognise what has happened to them and Employers may seek vindication or want to send a message to other employees.  Both sides could be disappointed after a lengthy and sometimes distressing process.

That said, you can take your Employer to an Employment Tribunal for any of the following reasons –

  • Failure to receive Equal Pay for equal value work.  Employees only.
  • Failure of your Employer to pay Redundancy pay or failure to inform and consult in a redundancy or business transfer situation; and failure to allow time off to look for work during a redundancy situation. Employees only.
  • Breach of Contract – if you have suffered a financial loss and your Employment has ended you may bring a claim to an ET.  In other circumstances the claim must be made at a County or other Civil court.
  • Working Hours – your Employers failure to limit weekly or night working limits or to ensure you get the proper rest breaks.  Employees and Workers only.
  • Failure to provide you with a written statement or a written statement of any subsequent changes to your terms and conditions.  Employees only.
  • Refusal of employment (by an Employer or via an agency) on the grounds of your trade union membership.  Workers and Employees.
  • If as an employee on a Fixed Term Contract you have suffered less favourable treatment and/or dismissal, than a permanent employee, or you have failed to receive a written statement confirming it has ended or a written statement confirming that you are now a permanent employee.  Employees only.
  • If as a part-time employee you have suffered less favourable treatment and/or dismissal than a full-time employee.  Employees and Workers.
  • Failure by your Employer to allow time for Trade Union activities, Jury service or other public duties, or ante-natal care.  Employees only.
  • Suffered detriment and/or dismissal for claiming flexible working or your Employer has breached the flexible working procedures.  Employees only.
  • Suffered detriment and/or dismissal for refusing to work on a Sunday.  Employees only.
  • Suffered discrimination due to pregnancy, maternity leave or child birth.  Employees, Workers and Freelancers (in most cases Freelancers are covered but please see our ‘What are my main Employment Rights‘ Guide for more details).
  • Discrimination claims – there is no cap on compensation limits and payments can be made to successful claimants for injury to feelings. Open to Employees, Workers and Freelancers (in most cases Freelancers are covered but please see our ‘What are my main Employment Rights‘ Guide for more details).

There are various discrimination claims that can be made, which are: -

  • Disability discrimination. The average award in 2009/10 was just over £50,000 but only 3% of claims were successful and 45% were settled without the need for a hearing.
  • Sexual orientation discrimination.  The average award in 2009/10 was £20,000 but only 5% of claims were successful and 40% were settled without the need for a hearing.
  • Sex discrimination.  The average award in 2009/10 was £20,000 but only 2% of claims were successful and 57% of claims were withdrawn before a hearing.
  • Race discrimination.  The average award in 2009/10 was £18,000 but only 3% of claims were successful and most claims were settled without a hearing or withdrawn.
  • Age discrimination.  The average award in 2009/10 was £10,000 but only 2% of claims were successful and 78% of claims were settled without a hearing or withdrawn.
  • Religious discrimination.  The average award in 2009/10 was £5,000 but only 2% of claims were successful and 65% of claims were settled without a hearing or withdrawn.
  • There are also several reasons under Health and Safety Law that you can make a claim to an ET but we have not included them here.

More information about Tribunals:

  • You should take advice from ACAS, your Trade Union representative or the Citizens Advice bureau before making a claim as it can be confusing and complicated.
  • You must normally make your claim within 3 months or either your employment ending or of the date the issue happened (that is the subject of the claim).  You need to fill in form ET1 to make a claim and there is guidance on how to do this.
  • Once you have sent in your ET1 form you will be advised in writing whether your claim has been accepted to continue or not.
  • At the moment there is no charge for you to bring a claim to an ET (unless you hire a solicitor to represent you) – although the Government’s current review may change this. At the moment you can receive legal aid to get advice in advance of an ET in England and Wales. In England and Wales legal aid is not available for representation itself at an ET (but there is some aid in Scotland).
  • If your case is accepted a copy of your claim will be sent to your Employer and also to ACAS.  Your Employer must reply within 28 days.
  • ACAS will involve one of their “conciliation” officers to see if they can help resolve your case without it going to ET.  In cases of unfair dismissal and flexible working ACAS can also offer “arbitration” services.
  • At the moment an Employer can ask a claimant who has bought a Tribunal claim to take part in mediation before any hearing.
  • Employment Tribunals can ‘strike out’ a case if they think it is too weak, at a pre-hearing, meaning the case will not proceed.  They can also order you to pay costs if they hear your claim but then think you have behaved ‘unreasonably’ during the case.
  • You are able to withdraw or settle your case at any point during the process.
  • If your case reaches the tribunal the case will usually be heard by a panel of 3 people which will include a qualified Employment Judge.
  • If you disagree with an ET’s decision about your case you can appeal if the Tribunal has made an error in law or if their decision is ‘perverse’ (i.e. a decision was reached that no ‘reasonable’ Tribunal could have made on the evidence in front of it).

The Employment Tribunal website for England, Wales and Scotland is here, and the Employment Tribunal website for Northern Ireland is here – where full information about the claim process is given.  There are some differences in the procedures that are used in Employment Tribunals in Scotland – see our article here for more details.

Workline is supported by Employment Lawyers Goodman Derrick LLP. Please note that the advice given on this website and by our Advisors is guidance only and cannot be taken as an authoritative interpretation of the law. It can also not be seen as specific advice for individual cases. Please also note that there are differences in legislation in Northern Ireland.

Photo by Joe Gratz – CC