Just though i would make a post specific to employment Tribunal fees with details as to what help is available to people in regards to paying Employment Tribunal Fees.
Employment Tribunal Fees
You will have to pay a fee. The amount depends on your type of case. The most common types are listed in the table.
A lot of employers will nowadays hold out until a day or so before the actual hearing date when an employee takes them to tribunal, before the employee caves in and offers a settlement to the employee. They do this in the hope you will back down as a result of the costs, or in the hope that you have started to self doubt yourself and the chances of your claim. Basically they try hold out as long as they can, giving the impression that they believe they have a rock solid defense against your claim, when they very rarely do when it comes to legitimate claims, where the claimant has been honest and has all the evidence they need to prove the employers wrong doing. The only time their is a real risk of losing is in claims for constructive dismissal - So never resign and claim constructive dismissal, without first seeking proper legal advice and even then only resign as a very very last resort.
Now a lot of people claim they can not afford the fee's - What they don't know though is that in regards to "breach of contract" (Constructive Dismissal Falls under serious Breaches of contract) or "unpaid wages" there is also the option of taking the employer to civil/county court where fees are a bit lower in certain circumstances. But costs, should you loose in court will be more likely awarded against you, which makes civil court expense if you loose due to the other side legal cost, which are rarely awarded against you if you loose at tribunal. So always make sure you have rock solid case and seek advise before issuing any kind of claim at civil/country court or at tribunal!
Like with Civil/County Court Fee's there is also help available towards paying the Tribunal Fees (I.e. Your on Benefits or on low income and have below £x amount in savings):
To find out if your eligible for help with Tribunal Fees please download and read this guide - http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.u...ctober-eng.pdf
You will find more forms and guides here to help you with your claim to tribunal - http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.u...e%20remissions
I recommend that you read through everything carefully, before you deciding whether to make a claim or not.
Automatic Unfair Dismissal - V- Unfair Dismissal.
A lot of people do not seem to know that their are to types of unfair dismissal, there is the more well known one "Unfair Dismissal" and then their is the lesser know (i fact hardly anyone knows of it) and less well publicised "Automatic Unfair Dismissal".
The key difference between the two, is that Unfair Dismissal a simple case of where an employee has been dismissed unfairly, such as when the employer has failed to follow their company disciplinary procedure, or where it is not inline with ACAS code of conduct 1: Disciplinary and Grievance Procedure - Or just simply where the procedure was not carried out fairly, no solid evidence to support allegations against the employee or to amount to reasonable suspicion, or where the the procedure was carried out in a biased fashion. Where in ordinary Unfair Dismissal cases, you are required to have worked for the company for a period of no less than 2 years to be eligible to take the case to tribunal.
Where as Automatic Unfair Dismissal relates to when you are dismissed in serious breach of your statutory rights (you have the statutory right not be unfairly dismissed but its not a serious enough breach on its own to deemed Automatic Unfair Dismissal). And in most cases, the 2 year qualifying period does not apply when you have been Automatically Unfairly Dismissed.
Below is a table of what amounts to Automatic Unfair Dismissal and whether the 2 year qualifying period will apply or not (And relevant Legislation to be used in support of any claim):
If anyone has any further info that may proof useful in regards to help with Tribunal and Tribunal Fees, or anything they feel may be relevant information but has not been covered already in any of the stickys in the employment section, then feel free to post it below.
Employment Tribunal Fees
You will have to pay a fee. The amount depends on your type of case. The most common types are listed in the table.
Unpaid wages | £160 | £230 |
Redundancy pay | £160 | £230 |
Breach of contract | £160 | £230 |
Unfair dismissal | £250 | £950 |
Equal pay | £250 | £950 |
Discrimination | £250 | £950 |
Whistleblowing | £250 | £950 |
Now a lot of people claim they can not afford the fee's - What they don't know though is that in regards to "breach of contract" (Constructive Dismissal Falls under serious Breaches of contract) or "unpaid wages" there is also the option of taking the employer to civil/county court where fees are a bit lower in certain circumstances. But costs, should you loose in court will be more likely awarded against you, which makes civil court expense if you loose due to the other side legal cost, which are rarely awarded against you if you loose at tribunal. So always make sure you have rock solid case and seek advise before issuing any kind of claim at civil/country court or at tribunal!
Like with Civil/County Court Fee's there is also help available towards paying the Tribunal Fees (I.e. Your on Benefits or on low income and have below £x amount in savings):
To find out if your eligible for help with Tribunal Fees please download and read this guide - http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.u...ctober-eng.pdf
You will find more forms and guides here to help you with your claim to tribunal - http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.u...e%20remissions
I recommend that you read through everything carefully, before you deciding whether to make a claim or not.
Automatic Unfair Dismissal - V- Unfair Dismissal.
A lot of people do not seem to know that their are to types of unfair dismissal, there is the more well known one "Unfair Dismissal" and then their is the lesser know (i fact hardly anyone knows of it) and less well publicised "Automatic Unfair Dismissal".
The key difference between the two, is that Unfair Dismissal a simple case of where an employee has been dismissed unfairly, such as when the employer has failed to follow their company disciplinary procedure, or where it is not inline with ACAS code of conduct 1: Disciplinary and Grievance Procedure - Or just simply where the procedure was not carried out fairly, no solid evidence to support allegations against the employee or to amount to reasonable suspicion, or where the the procedure was carried out in a biased fashion. Where in ordinary Unfair Dismissal cases, you are required to have worked for the company for a period of no less than 2 years to be eligible to take the case to tribunal.
Where as Automatic Unfair Dismissal relates to when you are dismissed in serious breach of your statutory rights (you have the statutory right not be unfairly dismissed but its not a serious enough breach on its own to deemed Automatic Unfair Dismissal). And in most cases, the 2 year qualifying period does not apply when you have been Automatically Unfairly Dismissed.
Below is a table of what amounts to Automatic Unfair Dismissal and whether the 2 year qualifying period will apply or not (And relevant Legislation to be used in support of any claim):
Jury service | No | Section 98B of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
Family-related reasons (pregnancy, childbirth, maternity leave, parental leave, adoption leave, paternity leave, or time off for dependants) | No | Section 99 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
Health and safety | No | Section 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
Sunday working | No | Section 101 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
Working time | No | Section 101A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
The employee's position as a pension scheme trustee or as director of a company that is a pension scheme trustee | No | Section 102 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
The employee's position as an employee representative, the employee's candidacy to become an employee representative, or the employee's participation in an election of employee representatives | No | Section 103 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
A public interest disclosure | No | Section 103A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
The assertion of a statutory right | No | Section 104 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
The national minimum wage | No | Section 104A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
Tax credits | No | Section 104B of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
Requests for flexible working | No | Section 104C of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
Pensions auto-enrolment | No | Section 104D of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
Blacklisting on the grounds of trade union membership or activities | No | Section 104F of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
Trade union membership or activities | No | Section 152 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 |
Official industrial action | No | Section 238A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 |
Recognition or derecognition of a trade union | No | Paragraphs 161 and 162 of sch.A1 to the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 |
The exercise of the right to be accompanied, or accompanying another, at a disciplinary or grievance hearing | No | Section 12 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 |
The exercise of the right to be accompanied, or accompanying another, at a meeting held under the statutory procedure for requests in relation to study or training | No | Regulation 18 of the Employee Study and Training (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/155) |
A request in relation to study or training | No | Section 104E of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
The assertion of a right as a part-time worker | No | Regulation 7 of the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 (SI 2001/1551) |
The assertion of a right as a fixed-term employee | No | Regulation 6 of the Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/2034) |
The transfer of an undertaking | Yes | Regulation 7 of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/2405) |
Redundancy but the employee is selected for redundancy on inadmissible grounds | No | Section 105 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 |
The exercise of rights relating to transnational informing and consulting employees | No | Regulation 28 of the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/3323) |
The exercise of rights relating to informing and consulting employees | No | Regulation 30 of the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004 (SI 2004/3426) |
The exercise of rights under the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Consultation by Employers and Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 2006 | No | Paragraph 5 of the schedule to the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Consultation by Employers and Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/349) |
The exercise of rights under the European Cooperative Society (Involvement of Employees) Regulations 2006 | No | Regulation 31 of the European Cooperative Society (Involvement of Employees) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/2059) |
The exercise of rights under the Companies (Cross-Border Mergers) Regulations 2007 | No | Regulations 46 and 47 of the Companies (Cross-Border Mergers) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/2974) |
The exercise of rights under the European Public Limited-Liability Company (Employee Involvement) (Great Britain) Regulations 2009 | No | Regulation 29 of the European Public Limited-Liability Company (Employee Involvement) (Great Britain) Regulations 2009 (SI 2009/2401) |
The exercise of rights under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 | No | Regulation 17 of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/93) |
If anyone has any further info that may proof useful in regards to help with Tribunal and Tribunal Fees, or anything they feel may be relevant information but has not been covered already in any of the stickys in the employment section, then feel free to post it below.
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