Employment tribunal

[ULA]

In which case yes just confirm that you have disclosed the documents as required by the Tribunal process because they provide evidence that supports your claim/s.

[Bobs123]

Hi, could someone please help me, i have to agree the bundle by Monday 30th but i feel the Respondents Representatives are not allowing me to exchange a document for one that I had used originally and that had been previously agreed in the bundle (the bundle has been updated many times)

The documents are my HMRC govt gateway sheets proving what i was paid (part of my claim is for receiving less than NMW ) In a grievance hearing we'd had in 2020 (yes my claim has been going on for a while) I had printed my gateway sheets on and had shown them and the calculations of what i had received and what i would have received had i been paid NMW.

These annotated gateway sheets had been agreed earlier in my claim for the original hearing that was set for January 2021, but this hearing got postponed (I wasn't told why) After this i had read somewhere that documents at the hearing had to be unmarked, I misunderstood this and then thought i couldn't use these sheets as i had written on them, so i sent blank ones. Now i am being told that I can't swap them back for the original ones. The person finalising the bundle has said the annotation to these sheets can be covered in my W.S, my argument is the annotated copies are the ones that i originally showed to a senior manager who disregarded them, plus these HMRC sheets are one of my qualifying disclosures. Will the ones without my written calculation on be taken into account? sorry for waffling i'm so stressed.

[Bobs123]

Help I have no idea if i have done the right thing, i haven't agreed the bundle, will i get in trouble?

[ULA]

You said you have not agreed the bundle have you formerly told the Respondent this and have they come responded back to you given it appears the deadline set out by the Case Management Order (I presume) was for yesterday’s date?

In regard to the hearing bundle, if at all possible, you should agree the bundle between you to avoid putting two bundles before the tribunal (they generally do not like this approach as it potentially leads to duplication of documents). The guidance on case management strongly encourages the parties to agree the contents of a single bundle including only those documents relevant to the issues of the claim and upon which the tribunal has to decide. However, in claims where the parties are unable to agree the content of the bundle, it is usually advised to do either of:

• Include all the agreed disclosable documents and then the unagreed documents are put in a separate bundle, often prepared by the party who wants the documents disclosed; or
• Produce one agreed bundle and then a separate section of the bundle, usually at the back, contains the documents that have not been jointly agreed to.

You will have to agree with the Respondent which approach you are going to take.

[Bobs123]

Hi, Could someone please advise, We finally exchanged WS but when i received the Respondents WS there is a witness that hasn't given a statement. At the Preliminary hearing it was made clear by the Judge that it was 'imperative' that this witness attends. I have written to the Tribunal ,but what do you think will happen now if the Respondent hasn't called this witness?

[Bobs123]

Also I have been advised as I am representing myself, to go and sit in a couple of Tribunal hearings so that i can get an idea for how everything will run on the day, do i do this via courtserve? and how do i ask to attend a particular hearing?

[ULA]

Was the outcome of the PHR sent in writing from the Tribunal with the requirement of this witness to to provide a statement and attend the hearing?

Tribunal hearing are public so as you say just need to find the information on hearings via Courtserve.

[Bobs123]

Hi, thank you for your reply, it wasn't written in to the Preliminary hearing letter it was verbally spoken about on the day.

As for attending Tribunal hearings do you just turn up at the tribunal you wish to watch on the day or do you have to get permission/book to attend beforehand?

[Sky90]

I’m not sure about in person tribunals, but for online ones, you register with www.courtserve.net and then you can find employment tribunal lists. You then email the relevant court (London central, Aberdeen etc) and ask for permission to view. They will then send you the log in details. You can have your camera off and microphone off, and do not need to let anyone know who you are or why you are there. During my tribunal, someone was watching and the respondent demanded to know who they were. The judge had to remind them that the hearing was open to the public.

Also, if your tribunal is online, and you didn’t mind friends/relatives witnessing it, then maybe having them watch with cameras off would make it less intimidating for you. I had to face the 3 members of the tribunal, the respondents barrister, lawyer, 3 witnesses, and 2 other members of my former employers staff. Thankfully I was represented by someone, but it was still very lonely. Having that random person log in made me feel less alone on the day they logged in to watch.

[ULA]

For in-person tribunals you can just turn up unless for some very special circumstances the Tribunal has given permission for the hearing to be private, but this is very rare.