Employment Tribunal postponement procedures
Download the full outcome
Detail of outcome
We will amend the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure in the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013 to:
- limit the number of postponements that can be granted to a party, in a single case, other than in exceptional circumstances
- introduce a deadline after which applications for the postponement of a hearing would only be allowed in exceptional circumstances
- place an obligation on tribunals to consider granting costs orders where late notice postponements are granted
Detail of feedback received
We received 33 responses to the consultation. These mainly came from:
- legal representatives
- businesses and business representative bodies
- trade union representatives
We also had a few responses from individual members of the public and employment tribunal members.
Original consultation
Consultation description
We believe workplace disputes are best resolved outside the formalities of an Employment Tribunal. Where that isn’t possible, we want to provide a more efficient Tribunal service for all users. Stakeholders have raised concerns about unnecessary and short notice postponements. These can increase the length of the process and lead to extra costs for those involved.
Subject to Parliamentary approval, we’ll use the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment (SBEE) Bill to allow us to change existing rules and create new rules on Employment Tribunal postponement procedures.
This consultation seeks views and comments on the content of the new rules, together with views on the costs of postponements. This will inform our forthcoming impact assessment.
Documents
Last updated 11 February 2016 + show all updates
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Added government response.
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First published.