Employment Tribunals

Employment tribunals in the UK have the jurisdiction to hear a wide range of employment disputes. These include unfair dismissal, discrimination claims, redundancy payments, equal pay disputes and complaints in relation to maternity and paternity rights.

In most cases, to bring claims in employment tribunals the claimants must be employees, although there are some circumstances in which regular workers can bring claims.

There are stringent time limits for bringing claims in employment tribunals. These vary dependent on the type of claim being brought. For some claims, the time limit is three months. Employment tribunals do have the power to extend these time limits but only exercise this power in exceptional circumstances.

Judges sitting in tribunals have similar powers to judges sitting in civil courts. These powers are given to them by the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2004.

These regulations give judges extremely wide case-management powers. For example, a judge may order that both the employee and employer attend a case-management hearing. At one of these hearings the judge will set out a timetable detailing how the case is to progress and within what sort of time frame.

Another power a judge has in an employment tribunal is the power to order a party to disclose information to the other side. Like in civil cases, the other party should request disclosure of information from the other side before seeking a disclosure order from a tribunal. There are strict procedures for cases going to tribunal, and a solicitor’s help is vital.

If you would like to obtain legal advice and information on employment tribunals, including bringing or defending a claim in a tribunal, Contact Law can put you in touch with a local specialist Employment Solicitor free of charge. So, if you have any questions or would like our help in finding local Employment Solicitors please call us on 0800 1777 162 or complete the web-form above. 

Last Updated on 25/11/2011