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As an employer facing an employment tribunal claim, you must prepare accordingly. Employment claims may arise from employees or job applicants for reasons such as redundancy, unfair dismissal and discrimination. This article will explain what you, as an employer, need to know if your business faces an employment tribunal. It will explain what the tribunal is, why you may be taken there and what you should do if you are facing a claim.
What is an Employment Tribunal?
An employment tribunal is a type of court. It is not part of the government but an independent tribunal. When someone has a legal employment dispute, an employment tribunal will listen to both parties and decide. This can involve making the employer pay the employee compensation.
Why Might an Employer Be Taken to an Employment Tribunal?
There are many reasons why you may face an employment tribunal. For example, it could be over reasons regarding:
- not paying the employee the correct wage;
- wrongly taking deductions from pay;
- redundancy;
- unfair dismissal; or
- discrimination.
What to Do if Faced With an Employment Tribunal?
If you find yourself face to face with a potential employment tribunal claim, you may consider following the below advice. Ultimately, you may need to seek legal advice when facing an employment tribunal claim.
What Are the Merits of the Case?
One of the first steps is to familiarise yourself with why there is a claim and the surrounding circumstances. This may give you an idea of the likelihood of success. For example, if the claim is not made within three months, it will technically not succeed.
Negotiation and Mediation
If you believe the claimant may have a good case for an employment tribunal, you may choose to negotiate with them to settle, regardless of whether you think they are right or wrong. This can be more cost-effective than facing an employment tribunal. On the other hand, you may consider mediation to help resolve the dispute between you and the claimant.
Contact With Acas
If someone wishes to take you to an employment tribunal, before this takes place, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) will make contact with you to let you know that a potential claim is in place. They will help you avoid the employment tribunal by trying to resolve the problem between you and the claimant through a ‘conciliation’ process.
Responding to a Claim
Where conciliation fails, the employment tribunal will contact you with a response pack. The pack will provide guidance on how to respond. You may choose to reply:
- online;
- in hard copy through the response pack you receive; or
- by downloading and completing a response form and posting it to the relevant employment tribunal office.
You have 28 days in which to respond. Where you do not, or do so out of this timeframe, a decision can be made against you without you present. However, you may be able to receive more time if you request this from the tribunal.
Preparing for the Hearing
After responding to an employment tribunal claim, you will get a date for a hearing with a minimum of 14 days’ notice. This may include a date for a preliminary hearing. You may need to:
- prepare documents; and
- arrange witnesses.
Key Takeaways
As an employer, you may face an employment tribunal claim, and it is important to handle it correctly. Employment tribunal claims can be costly, so you must know how to respond if your business faces one and what your options might be. For example, you may wish to negotiate or mediate with the claimant to avoid an employment tribunal. If this proves unsuccessful, you may need to contact Acas and consider how to respond to the claim.
If you need help understanding what to do if your business is faced with an employment tribunal in England, 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Your business may face an employment tribunal claim from, for example, an employee, a trade union, or a job applicant for various reasons, such as an accusation of discrimination or an allegation of unfair dismissal.
If your business faces an employment tribunal claim, you may wish to seek legal advice. However, the first thing you could do is familiarise yourself with whether it is a claim that has a chance of winning.
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