Five Tips to Avoid an Employment Tribunal During an Employment Dispute

If you face an employment claim at an employment tribunal, it could cost you money and your business’ reputation. Therefore, you must do what you can to avoid an employment tribunal in England. An employment tribunal is a court where an employment judge decides disputes between you and your employees. Nevertheless, there are some things you can do as an employer to avoid facing a dispute in an employment tribunal. This article will explain five top tips you, as an employer, can take on board to avoid facing a claim in an employment tribunal in the UK. 

1. Follow Your Workplace Policies and Procedures

As an employer, you must have fair, full and reasonable procedures that you should follow to avoid employment tribunals. These procedures should:

• mirror the Acas procedures; and 
• help you ensure that you act consistently and fairly when managing different situations. 

In addition, following your policies and practices will lower the chance of disputes arising between you and your staff, which could eventually lead to an employment tribunal claim. 

There are many policies applicable to employment, such as a:

• sickness absence policy;
• disciplinary and grievance procedures; and 
• health and safety policy.

Some policies and procedures are required by law. There are also legal requirements within policies and procedures, such as the right to be accompanied during a disciplinary or grievance hearing in a disciplinary and grievance procedure.

2. Have Robust Employment Contracts

A key way to avoid an employment tribunal is by carefully drafting employment contracts. Employment contracts are legally binding agreements that state your and your employee’s rights and obligations. These often cover subjects which can be the topic of employment disputes, such as:

• holiday leave;
• salary entitlement; and
• the notice period for dismissal.

3. Understand Discrimination Law

It is illegal to discriminate against an employee based on one of the nine protected characteristics, such as race and sex. Discrimination is unlawful from when you recruit staff to when you dismiss them. Therefore, there is a high chance that you could be in a situation where you could potentially discriminate.

Discrimination in employment is complex. Different types of discrimination exist, such as direct and indirect discrimination. Ultimately, discrimination is not illegal just because the person being discriminated against has the personal characteristic the discrimination is based on. It may also be illegal if you presume an employee has a certain characteristic.

4. Do Not Ignore Potential Employment Issues

A tip to help you avoid an employment tribunal is to deal with any employment issues immediately, rather than ignore them. Where you deal with an employment issue, you are more likely to:

• resolve the issue informally;
• resolve the issue amicably between you and your employee; and
• prevent problems from escalating into formal disputes and ultimately an employment claim.

However, acting quickly and not ignoring employment issues does not mean cutting corners. Therefore, where your policy requires you to investigate a problem, you should do so thoroughly. You should also document employment issues in writing in case of an employment tribunal later. 

5. Dismiss Staff Correctly

When you need to dismiss staff, it could lead to further interaction at an employment tribunal if not done correctly. To correctly dismiss staff, you should:

• have one of the five fair reasons for dismissal;
• follow a fair and reasonable procedure when dismissing; and
• ensure that you follow your contractual terms when dismissing, such as giving the correct notice period.

Failing to dismiss staff correctly can lead to employment claims such as:

• unfair dismissal; or
• wrongful dismissal.

Key Takeaways

By avoiding a claim in an employment tribunal, you can avoid the cost and reputational damage associated with an adverse outcome. To avoid an employment tribunal, you should:

• follow your workplace policies and procedures;
• have robust employment contracts;
• understand discrimination law;
• not ignore potential employment issues; and
• dismiss your staff correctly. 

If you need help understanding top tips to avoid an employment tribunal in the UK, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. So call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.

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