Employment Tribunal proceedings commence with a claim being presented by the applicant in writing to an Employment Tribunal office. A standard form (ET1) is mandatory for presenting an Employment Tribunal claim. This should contain:
- The name and address of the applicant
- The UK address for correspondence
- The name and address of those against whom the case is brought
- The grounds upon which relief is sought
- Whether the complainant has obtained new employment since leaving their previous employment
Claims can be presented by hand, by post or by electronic communication.
The Tribunal staff will then carry out a pre-acceptance procedure and the claim will either proceed or not dependent upon the circumstances of each claim.
The other party, normally the former employer or current employer (the respondent) must enter a defence to the proceedings called a response. A standard form (ET3) must be completed to contain:
- The respondent’s full name and address
- The UK address for correspondence
- A statement of whether or not the respondent intends to defend the claim in whole or in part
- The grounds on which the respondent intends to defend the claim
The response must be presented within 28 days of the date on which a copy of the claim was sent to the respondent by the Employment Tribunal.
Failure to enter a defence can lead to default judgements being issued i.e. a decision that the claim is upheld and that the respondent will not be allowed to contest the proceedings.
However, once a valid claim and response is submitted, the matter will proceed through the various stages of hearing and can include either a pre-hearing of the claim, or more commonly, a full Tribunal hearing. The parties should attend in person to give themselves the best chance of succeeding in their claim as the Tribunal will be unable to take into account any evidence with sufficient weight in the absence of the parties.
The Employment Tribunal comprises an Employment Judge drawn from a legally qualified panel alongside two lay members, one drawn from a panel from the employee’s side of industry i.e. with a trade union background and the other from a panel from the employer’s side of industry such as a company director or senior manager.
At any hearing, the tribunal will hear evidence from both parties.. This is normally exchanged in advance of the hearing and often follows various orders and instructions from the tribunal in relation to the dates that the exchanges and preparation should be completed by.
At the hearing, evidence is given by witnesses in person under oath who can be cross-examined by the other party or their representatives. Both parties will then be given the opportunity to sum up their case at the end of which process the tribunal will retire before giving their judgement, either on the day of the hearing or sometimes after the hearing, particularly where a large amount of evidence has been presented to them. (Reserved decision).
Following receipt of the judgement, the opportunity to appeal is available but only in restricted circumstances i.e. on a question of law or on the grounds of perversity in relation to the decision. Parties do not get a ‘second bite of the cherry’ as clearly every case could lead to appeal if this scenario were to be available.