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Employment Tribunal

Employment tribunals hear claims involving employment disputes. The most common claims are for:

● Unfair dismissal, including constructive dismissal

● Unlawful discrimination

● Unpaid wages or deductions from pay

● Holiday pay

● Notice pay

Depending on the type of claim, it will either be heard by a specialist employment judge sitting alone, or sitting with a panel of two lay (i.e. not legally-qualified) members.

There is no charge for entering a claim, but if you pay for legal representation, you cannot normally get these costs back even if you succeed in your claim.

For certain types of claim, an alternative route may be via the county court. For some breach of contract claims whilst still employed, the county court is the only available route. There are claim entry fees to be paid in the county court, but these are normally awarded against the employer if you win your claim.

There is normally a three-month time limit for entry of claims to an employment tribunal (six months for equal pay and redundancy pay claims), but a six-year time limit in the county court,

You should seek legal advice before entering a claim. Which? Legal Service can advise you as to whether you have grounds for a claim. If you have, we can tell you what you need to do, and can further advise all the way through the procedure, including how to present your case at a hearing. However, it is important to know that only a minority of claims actually proceed all the way to a hearing, most being settled by agreement before getting that far.