What an Employer Needs To Know About Responding to an Employment Tribunal Claim in England

Facing an employment tribunal claim can be daunting. If an employment tribunal office sends you a letter about an employee’s claim, you can defend the claim promptly and with minimal costs to your business. However, you must respond within 28 days. Otherwise, your failure to respond could affect the final employment tribunal decision. This article will explain what you, as an employer, need to know about responding to an employment tribunal claim in England.

What is an Employment Tribunal?

An employment tribunal is independent of the Government. Additionally, while an employment tribunal is similar to a court, it is not as formal as a court. However, an employment tribunal still has procedural rules you must adhere to. 

An employment tribunal will decide on an employment claim by listening to both parties. You, as the employer, are the ‘respondent’. On the other hand, the person making a claim, such as your employee, is the ‘claimant’. If the employment tribunal favours the claimant, you will likely compensate or mitigate the employee for their losses. 

What is an Employment Tribunal Claim?

An employment tribunal claim is a claim over an employment issue. This could be made by:

• your employee;
• a job applicant; or
• a trade union.

Employment tribunal issues could be about a  variety of different subjects, such as:

• pay;
• redundancy payments;
• dismissal; or
• discrimination.

You may receive a tribunal claim where you could not resolve an employment issue between you and the person claiming conciliation with Acas. Conciliation is where you and the person making a claim and Acas try to work together to create a solution to the employment issues. 

How To Respond to the Employment Tribunal Claim

If you face an employment tribunal claim, you will receive a letter from the employment tribunal, which is the start of post-claim conciliation. 

The letter contains a ‘response pack’. It will contain:

• an ET1;
• a copy of the employee complaint; and
• the response form or ET3. 

If the ET1 does not have enough information to understand the claim, you can write to the claimant to give more details. If the claimant does not respond, you can ask the employment tribunal office to provide it.

You can respond:

• online;
• in paper using the response pack; or
• electronically by downloading the response form and posting it to the relevant employment tribunal office.

When To Respond

You must respond to an employment tribunal claim within 28 days. The tribunal may decide the employee’s claim without a hearing. If you need more than 28 days, you should ask the relevant employment tribunal office for more time in writing and give reasons. For example, a key witness may be on holiday and will not return within 28 days.

What To Include in the Response

When responding to the claim, you should:

• include all relevant information as you cannot later rely on information not contained;
• focus on all the allegations or disputes;
• give your version of events;
• state your grounds for defence; and
• include the minimum information required.

If you do not include the minimum information, the employment tribunal could reject the response, and the claimant could win the case.

Other Key Information

If the employment claim concerns an issue about pay and you are struggling financially, you should include evidence of financial difficulty in your response. You should also ensure you make a copy of the response form before returning it. 

If you do not want to continue with the employment claim, you can make a settlement agreement with the claimant at any point in the process. This is where you offer them compensation.

Key Takeaways

You should respond to the employment tribunal claim appropriately and correctly. That is to say, you should return the response form within 28 days and address all allegations or issues if you want to defend the claim. You should also complete the minimal information required and take a copy of your response and the claim number for future reference. 

If you need help understanding how to respond to an employment tribunal claim 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.

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