All about Employment Tribunal – Procedure for Resolving Disputes

Employment tribunals are judiciary bodies consisting of group of one qualified judge and two non legal persons (lay men) who hear cases pertaining to employer-employee disputes. The tribunal addresses issues even in cases where there are disputes with people of body other than the employer.

These disputes can be over unfair or wrongful dismissal, discrimination or redundancy claims. In the UK, there are separate tribunals for England, Scotland and Wales.

When can you go to the tribunal?

Before a case comes to the tribunal, the case should have been tried to be resolved by a proper disciplinary procedure within the company. You can try using a mediator, like ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration service) fair procedures. In case you feel justice has not been done, then you can approach the tribunal.
There is also a time limit of 3 months, within which the case should be filed. The 3 months are calculated from the day of the incident or from the day of termination, as applicable. Under very unusual circumstances a dispute can be file even after the deadline.

What kind of cases can be taken to the Employment Tribunal?

• Unfair Dismissal
• Discrimination on grounds of race, gender, beliefs, religion, age, etc.
• Redundancy settlement issues
• Breach of contract
• Equal wages issues

Procedure

The procedure begins with statute law. This mandates that the employer should have followed transparent grievances procedure before appearing in before the tribunal.

• The process of a Tribunal hearing is initiated by the claimant filing a detailed form to any regional tribunal office.
• A copy of the form will be sent to the other party and has to reply within 28 days of its arrival. If the other party has a valid reason, then an extension can be requested for.
• The replies in the forms will be used in the court hearings. Hence the claimant and the other party should hire a solicitor to help them out.
• A date will be given for the public, open to press hearing and both the parties must be present during the hearing. Date postponement request must be made immediately.
• A copy will be sent to ACAS, should any request for out of court settlement come by.

What verdicts can be expected from the Tribunal?

If the tribunal finds your claim to be true, then they can grant any of the following verdicts in written statement:

• Reinstated: Placing the employee with the same employer in the exact same job with basic award.
• Re-engagement: Placing the employee with same employer in a different job with basic award.
• Payment of additional compensation if the employee cannot be placed with the employer or employer refuses to take the employee.

To simplify the claim’s process, you can hire an experienced attorney to represent you. There are no charges to be paid other than the ones you pay