ET hearing without representative- help needed with some info, please.

[Trres]

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all doing well.

I have a hearing scheduled with a former employer in 2 weeks and I haven't received any update on the ET3 or the bundle of documents, so I am yet to submit my part of documents ( as I understand, it needs to be agreed who provides what, so it makes the evidence following easier for the hearing ). I have sent an email to the Tribunal and my former employer, but I get worried I'm running out of time? The deadline was 8 days ago for the submission fro the respondent.

Also, as someone advised, I should include authorative law reports in regards to precedent cases? How does that work?
The case is about the employment status , which has been as contractor, which I am disputing.
I have prepared the contract, the documents which requested a certain schedule, uniform, tools being provided by the company and other things which indicate an employee status. I am also due to finish my statement today, so I can send over on monday everything to the Tribunal. As this will be a video hearing, they request everything to be sent via email.

I have read the guidelines from citizenadvice and other reoruces, but I feel a bit overwheImed.
I won't take this as legal advice, but I'd really appreciate if anyone would allocate a few minutes to clarify this details for me here, or in a private message, so I make sure I have prepared properly for the hearing...

Many thanks in advance for your time.

[ULA]

Sorry I will need some further inforamtion to be able to help you.

Have you actually been provided with a copy of the ET3?
When did you send the email to the Tribunal?
Is this a preliminary hearing or final hearing?
If the latter was there a Case Management Order providing details of deadlines for the production of documents?
Is the other side being represented or are they respresenting themselves.

In regard to case law it is always advised that if you can provide case law that supports your arguments as to why you were an employee and not a contractor then it is useful to cite these in your evidence. Firstly, it provides greater "weight" to your arguments if there is supportive case law and secondly, it proves to the Tribunal that you have come well prepared.

A response to the questions would be very helpful and may help me provide you further assistance.

[Trres]

Hi Ula,

Thank you for your reply.

I have not received a copy of the ET3 and the response was due from the previous employer by the 2nd of October. I have sent the email to the tribunal today, as I read on another thread here that due the current situation, this things might take longer than usual, hence the reason I allocated these extra days... So probably monday, the earliest, a response should come from them...

On the paper I have received from the Tribunal it only mentions that my claim has been accepted and the Hearing will take place on the date xyz and also the date by which my employer should have prepare his response, and no, haven't received any other documentation regarding any Case Management Order?

I am not sure if the other side have any representative or not, they haven't communicated with me since I stopped the collaboration.
I did included them in the email to the Tribunal, however no response has been received just yet...

Should I prepare my statement, documents and case laws and just have them sent ASAP or it is advisable to wait for a response from the Tribunal and/or my former employer regarding their ET3 and/or documents?

Many thanks for your help!

[ULA]

Thank you for the further information.

If it was only due to be submitted from the respondent by 2 Oct then given the current situation with some Tribunals on skelton staff, please do not be overly concerned you have not received a copy as yet. I am aware of hearing dates now being set for 2022!

It sounds like this hearing will be what is called a preliminary hearing in which will be used to discuss the specific claims that you have brought, the issues in dispute, if any further information is required for the parties to understand each other’s cases, if there are any specific issues which should be decided in advance of the main hearing and what steps the parties will need to take to prepare for a hearing. The judge will also want to list dates for either a further preliminary hearing and/or the final hearing. In order to do so, the Judge will need the parties to indicate how long they think the hearing is likely to last, how many witnesses they intend to call at the hearing and any dates on which they or their witnesses are unavailable to attend a hearing.

At the prelim hearing it is likely that the Case Management Order (CMO) directions provided by the Tribunal will be set and this will form the timetable for preparing the case and will determine when documents and witness statements are to be exchanged. It is very important that these deadlines are met. If either party breaches the CMO made by the tribunal, such as by filing evidence late, the tribunal has the discretion to prevent such evidence being relied upon by that party at a hearing.

At the moment I suggest you wait to hear what you need to do next from the Tribunal, however that does not stop you starting to prepare the documentation that will be needed for you to present your case.