An Overview on Employment Tribunals

While many disputes between your business and its employees can be resolved internally, some disputes need external resolution. In England, employment tribunals exist to resolve disputes that your internal policies cannot, either because your policy lacks set processes to handle disputes or because the issue has escalated. For some cases, you may initiate the claim with the tribunal. With others, the employee may bring the claim. This article will provide an overview of the purpose and function of employment tribunals.

What is an Employment Claim?

An employment claim is equivalent to a lawsuit but one involving employee-employer disputes. In an employment claim, the employee initiates the claim against you when they feel you as their employer has not abided by your obligations to them under the law. For instance, an employment claim might arise over allegations of:

• unfair dismissal;
• discrimination in the workplace;
• breaches of the employment contract;
• equal pay; or
• unlawful wage deductions.

In an employment claim, you are the respondent, and your employee is the claimant.

What is an Employment Tribunal?

An employment tribunal is a type of law court solely for employment legal matters.It deals with issues your business and its employees cannot resolve internally and enforces both your duties as an employer and the duties your employee owes your business.

Three people are generally present on an employment panel:

• an employment judge who takes the role of the tribunal chairperson;
• an individual with a background representing the interests of an employer, such as a company director; and
• someone with a background representing employees, such as a trade union leader.

In some instances where a case is not complicated, the panel may only consist of the employment judge.

How Do Employment Tribunals Work for Employment Claims?

Employment tribunals initially require your employee to make an employment claim by completing a form. The tribunal will serve you notice, giving you 28 days to respond to the claim, either by admitting liability or raising a defence. You submit a reply through an ET3 form.

If you do not accept liability, the tribunal will review both the merits of the claim and your defence. If the tribunal is satisfied the claim should proceed, it will initiate tribunal proceedings. This involves the tribunal:

• issuing a date for you and your employee to disclose particular documents to one another;
• giving a date for you to exchange witness statements with your employee; and
• deciding whether you need a preliminary hearing before the final hearing.

Employment Tribunals Hearings

A preliminary hearing may be necessary for a complex employment claim where, for example:

• the tribunal needs to consider certain legal (rather than factual) matters; or
• the tribunal considers it necessary to discuss with you and your employee certain rules and directions.

Most employment claims will involve a final hearing. The tribunal may hold this hearing in person or remotely as the tribunal feels is necessary. At the final hearing, the tribunal will:

• listen to all the evidence you and your employee present; and
• render a judgement, which is where it will determine if the claim succeeds or if it should be dismissed.

In some cases, the tribunal may postpone delivering its judgement until sometime after the hearing, in which case you may receive the judgement in writing.

If the tribunal rules against you and in the employee’s favour, the employment tribunal will then evaluate to what extent, if any, the employee is entitled to compensation. In most cases, they will order you to pay them damages, which is a fee you pay to the employee.

Employment Tribunals Appeals

If you feel the tribunal has made an error in its judgment, you may be entitled to appeal if the error was an error in law. An error in law is a mistake the tribunal makes such as:

• incorrectly applying legislation;
• arriving at a decision without any justifiable basis;
• acting with unlawful bias towards one of the parties; or
• not following the lawful procedures, but only where it impacted the outcome.

Key Takeaways

As a business owner, if an employee makes a claim against you, they are alleging you did not uphold your obligations to them as their employer. While some claims can be resolved internally, others may need to be resolved in an employment tribunal, which are courts that exclusively deal with employee-employer disputes.

When an employee initiates a claim at a tribunal, the tribunal will serve you notice that you must either contest the claim or accept liability for all or part of the claim. Where you wish to contest the claim, the tribunal will then begin proceedings requiring you and your employee to provide one another with evidence and statements. Unless you both reach a settlement, the tribunal will order a final hearing and make a judgement on the merits of the claim. If it decides in favour of your employee, you will likely have to pay the employee damages. You can appeal the order in limited cases.

If you need help understanding how employment tribunals work for employment claims in England and Wales, 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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