What is Employment Tribunal? How to Make a Claim & Win Your Case

Have you been terminated unreasonably from your employment? Or do you face discriminatory treatment at work? It is possible that your employer has not paid you what they are legally required to pay. 

Such circumstances can make employees feel helpless and worry about their future. Fortunately, the law provides a route to justice. Learning what is employment tribunal is may be the first step towards making employers answerable and getting compensated accordingly.

This guide provides an overview of employment tribunals and how they defend your right to employment.

What is Employment Tribunal?

Generally, many people wonder what is employment tribunal? Well, it is a court that is independent and settles disputes between employees and employers. In addition, it deals with workplace rights cases and employment law cases.

Consider it as a work-related specialist court. However, it is less formal than the traditional courts. The tribunal handles the cases of unfair dismissal, discrimination, wage disputes, and breach of contracts.

It is not as formal as the traditional courts, making it more accessible to the workers. Employment tribunal provides employees with a legal avenue in which to contest unfair treatment. This means that employees do not have to go to court to get compensation and justice at a high cost.

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How to Make a Claim?

The answer to the query, what is employment tribunal, is that it is a systematic procedural body. Making a claim is straightforward, but some key precautions are required. There is a structured process in an employment tribunal.

• Early Conciliation: You need to call the Advisory, Conciliation, and Arbitration Service (ACAS) before filing. They will seek to find a solution to the problem through conciliation.
• Submit a Claim Form: When the conciliation fails, you file a claim with the tribunal service.
• Collect Evidence: Collect contracts, payslips, emails and witness statements. 
• Attend a Hearing: Present your case before an employment judge or tribunal panel.

Each step matters. Deadlines should not be missed because this weakens your case. A decision made by an employment judge, sometimes supported by panel members, is legally binding.

Common Grounds for Claims

The queries that the employees are likely to ask are: why can I take my employer to a tribunal? The following circumstances could be strong grounds:

• Unfair termination
• Age, sex, and race discrimination
• Inability to pay wages or holiday allowance
• Redundancy disputes
• These are sufficient reasons to make a tribunal claim.

On What Grounds Can You Take Your Employer to a Tribunal?

An all-round understanding of what is employment tribunal, enables you to get successful proceedings. Employment tribunal claims have many legitimate grounds. Knowing such grounds will help you to know whether you have a strong case or not.

Unfair Dismissal

One of the most frequent tribunal claims is unfair dismissal. Your employer should have a just cause for terminating your employment. Moreover, they need to adhere to the best practices. Reasonable causes are misconduct, redundancy, or capability issues. 

Furthermore, in case your employer does not adopt a legal procedure, the termination can be overturned. To bring an unfair dismissal claim, two years of continuous service are required.

Discrimination Claims

After learning what is employment tribunal, know that discrimination claims defend the interests of workers who can be discriminated against based on the characteristics that are safeguarded. The Equality Act 2010 has nine characteristics that are protected:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage and civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
• Religion or belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation
  

Moreover, discrimination may be in different forms. These are indirect and direct discrimination, harassment, and victimisation.

Wage and Payment Disputes

Employers are required to remunerate the workers promptly and on time. You may bring the following claims to an employment tribunal:

• Unpaid wages or salary
• Illegal payroll deductions
• Holiday pay disputes
• National Minimum Wage deviations

Minimum wage laws are enforced by HMRC. Moreover, they can investigate those employers who are not paying in the legal way.

Redundancy Issues

The laying off of employees must be based on sound selection and consultation. You may, therefore, claim:

• Redundancy on unfair grounds
• No proper consultation
• No alternative job opportunities
• Inadequate redundancy payments

Whistleblowing Protection

Whistleblowing occurs when employees report wrongdoings in the workplace. The legislation safeguards whistleblowers against harm or termination. Thus, in case you are retaliated against for voicing concerns, then you may claim a tribunal. Before pursuing such a claim, you must fully understandwhat is employment tribunal process.

Other Common Grounds

Other reasons to make tribunal claims are:

• Violation of the employment contract
• Lack of written terms of employment
• Rejection of flexible working requests
• Illegal deductions on training expenses
• Violation of maternity and paternity rights

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What is the Employment Tribunal Fee

This is good news because, in this case, there are no fees to file an employment tribunal claim. In the past, there were tribunal fees, which were abolished in 2017. As a result, justice is now available to employees without direct expenses.

Potential Costs to Consider

However, other possible costs should be taken into account:

• Legal Representative: It is a solicitor or a barrister, but it’s not a prerequisite. Depending on the complexity of a case, legal costs differ greatly. Simple cases might cost £1,000 – £3,000 approximately. Complex cases can exceed £10,000.
• Preparation Costs: You might require the services of expert witnesses or medical reports. These services are normally charged at a professional fee.
• Time Off Work: When one is attending hearings, it involves a loss of working time. Moreover, you will waste a lot of time working on your case.
• Risk of Costs Order: Tribunals do not commonly make costs awards to losing parties. This is uncommon, but still possible.

Free Support Options

Some organisations are providing free employment law advice:

• ACAS offers free conciliation and advice services.
• Citizens Advice provides legal advice that is free.
• Trade unions assist members in tribunal claims.
• Some solicitors provide free first consultations.

Thus, you can receive professional advice without having to spend money in the short term.

Are Employment Tribunals Public?

Yes, employment tribunals have open proceedings. As a rule, tribunal hearings are accessible to anyone. Besides, the decisions of tribunals are available in open databases.

Public Access Rules

The core concept of what an employment tribunal is based on the principle of open justice. Thus, the hearings can be watched by the public and the press. Such openness brings about accountability and equity.

Nevertheless, exceptions to the public access exist:

• Privacy Orders: Tribunals may limit the publicity in sensitive cases. Such cases may be sexual misconduct or business secrets.
• Anonymity Orders: In certain situations, claimants or witnesses may seek anonymity. As a result, their names do not reflect in the verdicts of the public.
• Restricted Reporting Orders: The orders do not allow the identification of parties until the end of the judgment. They are especially applicable to the cases of disability discrimination or sexual misconduct.

Consequences of Public Hearings

Public proceedings in what is employment tribunal cases imply that the employer is subjected to reputational costs of illegitimate behaviour. Also, the published judgments are used as precedents in future employment cases. To the claimants, public hearings imply possible media coverage. Therefore, consider the potential impact of publicity before proceeding.

Do Employment Tribunals Favour Employers?

This is a general perception that should be realistically investigated. The employment tribunals do not favour the employers in a systematic manner, as revealed by statistics.

But this statistic has to be put into a specific perspective. Lots of cases are settled before a full hearing with the help of ACAS conciliation. 

In the event they involve settlements, employees record positive results in an estimated 40-50 per cent of cases. Thus, it is not as low as it seems.

The Bottom Line

Knowing what is employment tribunal is of great value to employees. The employment tribunals attempt to be non-partisan. Judges pass judgments on evidence and law alone. Hence, well-prepared cases that possess good evidence will enjoy good chances of success with or without the representation of the claimant.

Keep in mind that there are no fees that you pay to file tribunal claims. Also, there are free support services that you can use to help you in the process. But achieving success needs good evidence, preparation, and expectation.

Understanding what is employment tribunal will enable you to safeguard your rights in the workplace. These are independent bodies that offer important access to justice where employers violate the employment law.

The rights of your workplace are important. Learning what is employment tribunal may be the road to justice, compensation and closure.

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