Are you bringing or have you brought an Employment Tribunal claim against your employer or former employer?
Are you now feeling out of your depth and overwhelmed with volumes of paperwork, Employment Tribunal deadlines and legal terminology?
Here is a helpful guide with a summary of some of the key steps for a Claimant during the Employment Tribunal claim process and why it’s important that you get it right!
Issuing an ET1
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There is no longer a requirement to pay an Employment Tribunal fee when issuing employment claims and this has now led to an increase in the number of claims issued by Claimants. The Employment Tribunals are busier than ever!
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It is imperative that you understand the actual legal claims you have, the legal tests, burden of proof, time-limits and values and that the ET1 and related Grounds of Claim are properly prepared clearly pleading your claims; otherwise you may find your claims are deemed out of time or without merit.
Case Management /Preliminary Hearing
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Case Management Orders are orders by the Employment Tribunal requiring both the Claimant and the Respondent to do certain tasks by certain dates to facilitate the management of the case in the run up to the Final Hearing at the Employment Tribunal.
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If you fail to comply, your claim could be struck out and you may also face an order for costs.
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After issue of your ET1 and receipt of the Respondent’s ET3, the Employment Tribunal sometimes list a Case Management /Preliminary Hearing which is usually attended by solicitors or barristers and deals with points of law; the legal issues in dispute, the length of the hearing and number of witnesses.
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Failing to deal with these factors properly at this stage could undermine your case.
Schedule of Loss
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A Claimant will be ordered to prepare a document detailing compensation claimed, with supporting evidence and documentation as to alleged financial loss and steps taken to reduce the loss.
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If you fail to accurately prepare this document then you could place at risk the real value of your claims or end up with a much lower settlement value than you had hoped for.
Disclosure
- Both a Claimant and a Respondent have to complete disclosure to each other of relevant documents…
To continue reading our employees guide to employment tribunals, you can download a copy of our specially created guide
Alternatively, if you would like to speak to a member of our employment law team about your employment tribunal, please call 0845 287 0939 or email us via our online contact form.
