Employment Tribunals

The threat of being “taken to the Tribunal” frightens many employers, it should not. The awards of compensation of hundreds of thousands of pounds that make the front pages of local and national newspapers are few and far between, and should not stop employers who understand basic employment law and who follow their own procedures from taking disciplinary action against an employee when it is necessary and right to do so.

Employees would also do well to bear in mind that going to an Employment Tribunal normally involves a certain amount of stress, a fat fee for lawyers and “not enough compensation” for you.

That being said last year there were 115,042 Employment Tribunal applications, an increase of 17% over the previous year.

Unfair dismissal is still the most frequently made claim making up 39% of all applications. Sex discrimination claims increased from 8,128 to 14,284.

In the South West 95% of all claims that get to a hearing do so within 26 weeks. The Tribunals in our area are among the most efficient in the country.

Back to compensation, what about those huge awards of compensation.

In unfair dismissal cases the maximum Compensatory Award that an Employment Tribunal can give an unfairly dismissed employee is £55,000.

However the latest statistics reveal that the average unfair dismissal award is £3,375. Such a sum does not really make much of a newspaper headline and leaves precious little for an employee who has to pay a lawyer.

However when employers behave badly, making a Tribunal claim is sometimes the only action employees can take to assert their legal rights.

If you have been dismissed and believe (being as objective as you can) that it was unfair, in most situations you have three months from the date of dismissal to make a claim. It is best to use the standard Tribunal form to bring your claim. Make sure that you or your advisors fill this form in carefully and that you accurately set out the facts of your claim. Exaggeration, lies or selective omission of key facts may lead to severe embarrassment when you are giving evidence and being cross examined.

When it comes to a Tribunal hearing both employers and employees should remember that the law is a bit of a game. Like all games there are rules.

Preparation for the hearing is vital. Make sure that all the paperwork you will be using in your case is properly bundled and indexed with 5 extra copies – enough for all three Tribunal members, the witness table and for the other side.

Detailed written witness statements will be required for those who will speak on your behalf, including you. Remember these should be factual and accurate, if they read like a work of fiction you are unlikely to convince the Tribunal of the merits of your case.

The Tribunal will normally consist of three people. The Chairperson is a lawyer and he will sit with two lay members who have experience of industry.

In my experience, Tribunals always treat Claimants, particularly those representing themselves, courteously and fairly ensuring that they have every opportunity of saying why they think they have been badly treated. That being said a knowledge of what the law is and what you as a Claimant will have to establish is vital – a real rule of the game. If you do not want to be represented or cannot afford to be, speak to the Citizens Advice Bureau to establish before the hearing what you will need to do to win your case.

Published 27/09/2006.