Category Archives: employment tribunal fees 2103

Employment Tribunal Fees Unlawful

Breaking news today from the Supreme Court, who have decided that employment tribunal fees introduced in July 2013 are unlawful as they prevented access to justice and breached UK and EU law.

The case was taken to the Supreme Court ultimately by Unison who have fought this long and hard, but now successful battle.  Many of the employees who have paid fees to take their employer to tribunal will now need to be refunded.  The government will have to now pay out a whopping £27 million.  Before July 2013 employees could take their employer to a tribunal without charge, but this changed in 2013 when fees topping £1200 were introduced for claims related to unfair dismissal and discrimination.  This has lead to a dramatic decrease in the number of claims being lodged – 78% in three years.  The reduction has probably been due to a lack of affordability by many employees unable to do anything about any potential unfair illegal treatment at work.  If someone was unfairly dismissed they would more than likely not have the funds to take a claim having lost their job and income.  This would be particularly relevant to employees with a with low or middle income.

Time will tell how the government will tackle the need to make changes.  Whilst the Supreme Court has indicated employment tribunals should be free, tribunal fees may not be completely abolished but may perhaps be vastly reduced.  The government will probably organise a consultation exercise before implementing any changes to fees.

In July 2013 the government introduced a mandatory one month ACAS conciliation period which has helped to resolve approximately 90% of cases without going to an employment tribunal.  This process will probably still be retained as it appears to have been very successful in helping to reduce the thousands and thousands of claims that used to swamp the employment tribunal system.

Nevertheless, it seems that this barrier to justice will now be removed so law-breaking employers should beware.

Employment Tribunal Statistics – July to September 2016

The latest employment tribunal statistics – July to September 2016 – show a marginal increase of Employment tribunal statistics 2% in single claims compared to the same period in 2015  whilst there has been an increase of 45% for multiple claims for the same period.  A multiple claim is one that contains multiple claimants on the same form.

The employment tribunal statistics show that the average time to dispose of a single claim was 26 weeks, but 205 weeks for a multiple claim.

4,300 single claims were received during July to September 2016 with 27,200 multiple claims  and over 5,245 applications were made for remission of the issue fee which can range from £160 to £250.  4,623 claims received either full or partial remission.  A fee remission can be applied for where a claimant does not have a certain level of savings in the bank and/or is on a low income or income support.  A separate fee remission application must be submitted.  Fewer applications were made for remission of the hearing fee which can range from £230 to £950.

The full statistical analysis can be viewed here.

A fee remission application form can be found here

Guide on applying for fee remission here

The Changing Face of The Employment Tribunal

I recently represented a claimant case in Nottingham employment tribunal.  The claimant waiting room was eerily quiet being empty when we walked in.  This was compared to sixteen months earlier when I had represented another claim there and the room had been packed out.   My latest case lasted three days and during that time we hardly saw any other claimants and  representatives in the waiting room.   The case ran over and the judge had to assign another day so the remaining witnesses could be cross examined, representations could be made and the verdict decided upon.  He reluctantly did this saying the government had cut back his sitting days dramatically.  This seems to be the shape of things to come.

On Monday 29 July under the The Employment Tribunals(Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013 the government introduces tribunal fees for claimants wishing to lodge a claim and then to request a hearing.  The last day, therefore, for bringing a fee-free employment tribunal claim will be by 4pm on Friday 26 July.  Any claims already in the system will not attract fees.

Following the introduction of the fee system the fees will be repaid to the claimant if they win.

Type A claims (including unlawful deductions, notice pay, equal pay and redundancy pay) will cost £160 to lodge the claim, with a £230 hearing fee; and

Type B claims (including unfair dismissal and discrimination) will cost £250 to lodge the claim and a £950 hearing fee.

Appeals will cost up to £1,600. Witnesses’ expenses will no longer be paid.

Fees will be either paid online via credit or debit card or by cheque or postal order.

There will also be a fee remission system, which will attempt to ensure that access to justice is not reduced through the introduction of tribunal fees. This will apply to individuals in receipt of certain benefits or who have a disposable monthly income below a certain level. The income of a claimant’s partner will be taken into account though when determining whether a fee remission is given.

The potential cost of losing an employment tribunal will rise to £20,000 which will further discourage claims.  Tribunals are increasingly awarding costs to the losing party which will further discourage claims being brought.

Employment tribunals were introduced in the early 1970s by a Tory government as a way of preventing strikes over unfair dismissals and workplace injustices. Tribunals can award compensation, but cannot force an employer to take back a worker judged unfairly dismissed.  With the changes to the employment tribunal system it seems that rogue bosses will once again have the upper hand and claimants will have to think twice about the implications of lodging a claim.

The unions are already pitting their wits against the government claiming it is unlawful to deny citizens the right to take a free claim in pursuance of their employment rights.  The fee structure law will be implemented on 29 July, but if the unions win in court the fees will be refunded.

Lowdown on the Proposed Employment Tribunal Fees

The Ministry of Justice has announced that it is introducing an online service for the payment of employment tribunal fees. According to the announcement, the facility to pay online will be available from July 2013.  This suggests that the new fee structure proposed shall be introduced then.

At the moment it costs nothing to bring an employment tribunal claim, but following consultation in 2011 the government is introducing the new fee structure so as to be in line with other court processes where fees are paid.  Currently it costs £84m to run the tribunal system funded by the tax payer; the government aims to reduce this burden whilst still promoting justice for all.  However many on low incomes are not required to pay full court fees so the government will be reviewing this for employment tribunal claims.
The introduction of fees is part of the government’s plan to promote early resolution encouraging people to look for alternatives to  using the court system.  Alternatives would be mediation, ACAS conciliation or directly negotiated settlement.
Fees will be payable in advance and there will be a two stage process; a fee will be paid to start a claim off and another fee will be due to be able to go forward with a hearing should that be necessary.  The level of fee will be dependent on the type of claim being brought.  For level 1 claims that include unlawful deductions, holiday pay, notice pay, redundancy pay the issue fee shall be £160 with £230 hearing fee.  For level 2 claims that include unfair dismissal and discrimination the issue fee shall be £250 and hearing fee £950.
In cases where more than one claimant is bringing the same claim the fee structure makes provision for this and has suggested fees accordingly. 

Level 1 claims

Fee Type Two to ten claimants 11 to 200 claimants 201 or more claimants
Issue fee £320 £640 £960
Hearing fee £460 £920 £1,380

Level 2 claims

Fee Type Two to ten claimants 11 to 200 claimants 201 or more claimants
Issue fee £500 £1,000 £1,500
Hearing fee £1,900 £3,800 £5,700
With the Employment Appeal Tribunal the issue fee shall be £400 and hearing fee £1200.

Other fees linked to the process are as follows:

  • An application to set aside a default judgement – The fee would be £100 which would be payable by the respondent.
  • An application to dismiss a claim following settlement or withdrawal – The fee would be £60 although it has been recommended that when a party withdraws their claim the respondent should not have to pay to get their claim dismissed.
  • An application for judicial mediation – The fee would be £600 and is payable by the employer.
  • A breach of contract counter claim – The fee would be £160 payable by the employer.
  • An application for a review of a tribunals decision or judgement – The fee for this would be £100 for level one claims and £350 for level two claims.
Need employment law advice see our website www.sjbealehrconsult.co.uk