Guidance

Making a claim to an employment tribunal (T420)

Updated 5 February 2024

This publication also applies if you are appealing against:

• an assessment to training levy made by an Industry Training Board
• an improvement or prohibition notice issued under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
• a notice of underpayment issued under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998
• an unlawful act notice issued under the Equality Act 2010
• any other notice where an appeal lies to the employment tribunal

If so, you will be referred to in the proceedings as the appellant and in this publication where the word ‘claimant’ or ‘claim’ appears you should read it as ‘appellant’ and ‘appeal’.

The requirement to contact the advisory, conciliation and arbitration service (Acas) before instituting proceedings does not apply if you are making an appeal.

Presidential guidance

Under the employment tribunal rules, the presidents of the employment tribunals in England and Wales and in Scotland may issue presidential guidance. The aim of that guidance is to improve consistency in the way employment tribunals manage cases and enable the parties to better understand what is expected of them and what to expect. It is not binding but should be followed where possible.

You can find the presidential guidance issued by both presidents.

Having a claim determined by an employment tribunal can take a number of months. The length of time it takes to complete the process will depend on what your claim is about and the issues involved in your claim. If there are lots of issues, or they are complicated, your case may take longer.

If the employment tribunal upholds your claim, they will consider what award to make. This is often referred to as the ’remedy‘ which is awarded by the tribunal. A remedy can have financial and non-financial aspects to it. For example, a tribunal may make a:

• declaration that the respondent has violated your rights
• recommendation in a discrimination case that the respondent take action to reduce the likelihood of the discriminatory act recurring

The award will include the amount the tribunal calculate you should have been paid if the breach of your rights had not occurred and might, depending on the nature of the claim, include an award in respect of a future period.

Tribunals will decide what award you are entitled to based on your personal circumstances, including:

• your age
• how much you earn
• injury to feelings – for cases involving discrimination

This will be based on existing guidance, set out in case law. In unfair dismissal claims, the tribunal may also order that you be reinstated in your previous position or re-engaged by the respondent in other suitable employment.

Awards for successful claimants will be different and depend on the details of the claim. You can get impartial advice about your claim from the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100.

General data protection regulations

The Ministry of Justice and HM Courts and Tribunals Service processes personal information about you in the context of tribunal proceedings.

You can find out more about the standards we follow when processing your data.

To receive a paper copy of this privacy notice, please contact our customer contact centre.

Customer contact centre

England and Wales: 0300 323 0196
For Welsh speakers: 0300 303 5176
Scotland: 0300 790 6234

A copy of the claim form or response and other tribunal related correspondence may be copied to the other party and Acas for the purpose of either:

• tribunal proceedings
• to reach settlement of the claim

Welsh language act

If you are responding to a claim in Wales you can ask that correspondence and phone calls are in Welsh. If both sides agree, the hearings may be carried out just in Welsh. If both English and Welsh are used at a hearing, we can provide translation facilities if you ask.

Early conciliation

For claims made to the employment tribunals after 6 May 2014 anyone wishing to bring a claim (the prospective claimant) must (with a limited number of exceptions) contact Acas before making their claim. Acas will offer you and the prospective respondent the opportunity of attempting to resolve the dispute without the need to formally engage in the employment tribunal process. This is known as early conciliation.

If your claim settles through Acas the claim will be removed from the list for hearing (if listed) and the case file will be destroyed in accordance with our destruction policy 12 months from the date of settlement.

Details of early conciliation discussions should not be included in your claim form.

Employment tribunals

Employment tribunals hear cases and make decisions on matters to do with employment, such as:

• unfair dismissal
• redundancy payments
• discrimination
• a range of claims relating to wages and other payments

Although an employment tribunal is not as formal as a court, it must comply with rules of procedure and act independently.

Early conciliation - single claims

You must complete and submit an early conciliation form to Acas, which provides your basic details and those of your employer.

Alternatively, you may phone Acas on 0300 123 1100 and provide the relevant information.

If you are proposing to bring the claim against more than one prospective respondent or person, then you must complete a separate form in respect of each of them.

You can find out more about early conciliation and how to access the form. This can be obtained by contacting Acas or from any Citizens Advice.

On receipt of the form, Acas will contact you to gather further details, and to offer conciliation services.

If you and the prospective respondent or respondents accept the offer of early conciliation, Acas will have a period of six weeks to negotiate settlement.

If conciliation is refused by either party, or fails, Acas will issue a certificate allowing you to submit a claim form to the employment tribunal. The certificate will contain a unique number which you will have to quote when making your claim. Where you have named more than one prospective respondent, then an individual certificate containing a unique reference number will be will be issued in respect of each prospective respondent.

Multiple or group claims

Where a person (for example, a trade union representative, solicitor or prospective claimant acting on behalf of others) is making an application on behalf of a group of people, they can choose to get each prospective claimant to submit individual forms. Alternatively, the representative will have to complete and submit to Acas what is known as a ‘group application form’.

In that form they will be asked to provide the names and addresses of all of the individuals within the group. A unique reference number beginning with ‘MU’ will be given to identify this group claim (and therefore all the claimants included on this form).

If more batches of claimants in the same dispute are notified on either the same or different days, then a new MU number will be given to each new batch to distinguish it from the original group claim. All cases in the same dispute will be allocated to the same conciliator.

If early conciliation is not successful, then Acas will issue one certificate in respect of each batch of claimants, for example one certificate per MU number. Each certificate will identify the names of all the individuals in that batch. Any person within the group may, if needed, ask Acas to provide them with their own individual certificate which would have their own unique number. If a claim is subsequently made to an employment tribunal in the dispute, then the ET1 can include all claimants and all the MU numbers relating to those claimants must be quoted.

Exemptions from the requirements to contact Acas

You will be exempt from the requirement to contact Acas where:

• you are presenting your employment tribunal claim on the same form as other claimants and at least one of them has complied with the requirement for early conciliation
• the matter you are complaining about, or one of them, is not something upon which Acas have the power to conciliate
• you can show that your previous employer has been in touch with Acas
• you are making a claim for interim relief – this is a rare type of claim and the fact that you are making a claim of unfair dismissal does not mean that you are necessarily making a claim for interim relief

If you are exempt from the requirement to contact Acas, you will be asked to say that on the claim form and to state the reason why you are exempt.

Incorrectly claiming an exemption may lead to your claim being rejected. If in doubt contact Acas.

You can get help and advice from:

• a trade union, if you are a member
• free advice services such as a law centre or Citizens Advice for England and Wales, or Citizens Advice for Scotland
• solicitors and other professional advisers or, in Scotland, under the legal aid scheme, may be able to help you prepare your case

If your claim involves discrimination, expert information, advice and support on discrimination covering England, Scotland and Wales is available from the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

Phone: 0808 800 0082
9am to 8pm, Monday to Friday
10am to 2pm Saturday
Closed on Sundays and bank holidays

Website: www.equalityadvisoryservice.com
Post: FREEPOST EASS HELPLINE FPN6521

If you are applying for a redundancy payment, there are specific time limits which are complicated. You can get help from the Redundancy Payment Helpline on 0330 331 0020.

If your complaint is about not receiving the national minimum wage,

You can find more information about complaints about not receiving the national minimum wage.

Customer contact centre

Staff at the employment tribunals customer contact centre can answer general enquiries, give information about tribunal publications and explain how the tribunal system works. They may be able to help you fill in the form but they cannot give legal advice, such as advising you whether your claim is likely to be successful.

Information needed before a claim can be accepted

Your claim cannot be accepted unless it meets certain conditions. It must be on an approved form, known as a prescribed form, provided by employment tribunals. By law, you must tell us:

• your name and address
• the name and address of the respondent or respondents (the person or organisation against whom you are making the claim)
• the early conciliation certificate number or numbers provided by Acas or a declaration that you are exempt from the requirement to go through the early conciliation process

You must also give sufficient details of your claim so that the tribunal and respondent can understand what your claim is about.

If you’re making an appeal to the employment tribunal against, for example, an assessment to training levy made by an Industry Training Board or an improvement or prohibition notice issued under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, you do not have to use the prescribed form.

If your claim is not accepted, the time will continue to run against you in relation to the time limit which applies to making your claim. Your claim could be time barred if you submit it close to the time limit expiry.

How long you have to make a claim to an employment tribunal

Submission of the early conciliation form to Acas will ‘stop the clock’ on the time period for you to submit your claim.

Time will only start to run again when you are deemed to have received the certificate issued by Acas.

If the certificate was sent to you by email, you will be deemed to have received the certificate on the day on which it was sent.

If the certificate was sent to you by post you will be deemed to have received it on the day on which it would be delivered in the ordinary course of post.

In working out the number of days by which the time limit is extended, the period begins on the day following that on which your application for early conciliation was received by Acas. The period ends on the day on which you are deemed to have received the certificate. The date on which Acas received your early conciliation form will be stated in the early conciliation certificate.

If you are exempt from the requirement to contact Acas then the tribunal must receive your claim within the strict time limits that apply to the type of complaint you are making. In most cases the tribunal must receive your claim within 3 months from the date your employment ended or the event you are complaining about happened. This means that if it happened on 1 March the tribunal must receive your claim on or before 31 May. If it happened on 5 March the tribunal must receive your claim on or before 4 June.

The time limit for making an appeal to the employment tribunal depends on the type of appeal you are making. For example:

• an appeal against an improvement or prohibition notice must be presented within 21 days from the date of service of the notice
• an appeal against a notice of underpayment issued under the National Minimum Wage Act must be made within 28 days of the service of the notice.

It is important that the claim or appeal you make is presented within the appropriate time limit.

There are strict time limits that apply to the presentation of employment tribunal claims which are set out in legislation. If a claim is presented late, a judge may still allow it to proceed. A judicial decision may be taken at a preliminary hearing arranged for that purpose. A decision will be based on the individual circumstances of the case and application of the relevant law.

If you are sending your claim in late then you should explain why that is so in the claim form and/or in a covering letter or email. You should also provide any information and/or evidence which you think will assist a judge in deciding whether or not your claim should be allowed to proceed even though it is late.

Unfair dismissal

In general, to claim unfair dismissal you must have worked continuously for the respondent for at least 2 years. However, in some circumstances in which unfair dismissal is claimed, no minimum qualifying service is required. These include dismissals where the main reason for the dismissal is claimed to be:

• taking part or proposing to take part in the activities of a union or making use of union services
• joining a union or choosing not to join one
• being involved in health and safety activities either as an employer’s health and safety ‘officer’ or a worker’s representative
• taking part in activities as a pension scheme trustee
• being, or proposing to become, an ‘employee representative’
• being a shop worker or a betting worker who refuses to work on a Sunday
• using certain rights covered by the Working Time Regulations
• being dismissed for pregnancy or a pregnancy related reason
• being dismissed for the assertion of a statutory right
• being dismissed for making a protected disclosure

Interim relief

If you believe you have been unfairly dismissed for one of the following reasons, you can apply to a tribunal for ‘interim relief’:

• for making a protected disclosure within the meaning of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (whistleblowing)

• for seeking to exercise the right to be accompanied at (or to accompany someone else to) a disciplinary or grievance hearing

• for acting as a workers’ representative; dismissal of a safety representative or a member of a safety committee for a reason connected with that role, dismissal of a workers’ representative in connection with the Working Time Regulations or dismissal of an employee trustee of an occupational pension scheme for a reason connected with that role

• for trade union related reasons; dismissal for reasons related to trade union membership or non-membership or trade union activity or dismissal resulting from obstruction or promotion of official recognition of a trade union

• for exercising or seeking to exercise the right to be accompanied to a meeting to discuss a request not to retire or for accompanying or seeking to accompany a fellow employee to such a meeting

If the tribunal grants your application for interim relief, your employment will be legally continued until the case is decided and you will receive your salary or wages.

If you were dismissed for one of those reasons and you want to make an application for interim relief the tribunal must receive your claim within 7 days of your dismissal. You may also want to seek advice.

If your application for interim relief is related to trade union membership or activities you will have to provide, at the time of making your claim, a certificate signed by a trade union official that states that the dismissal was on trade union grounds. The certificate must state that the individual is a member and that, in the view of the official, the dismissal is related to the individual’s union membership or activities.

If you are making your application online it will not be possible to attach that certificate to the claim form. In order to progress the application for interim relief as quickly as possible we would recommend the following.

1. You submit your claim online.
2. Send a copy of the claim form, the certificate and the application for interim relief by email to the relevant tribunal office.
3. Clearly state in the body of the claim form submitted online that you have done so.

Public interest disclosure claims

If your claim consists of or includes a claim that you have made a protected disclosure under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (also known as ‘whistleblowing’), we may copy your claim form to the regulator identified by you, if you give consent.

If appropriate we will then write to you or your representative if you have one, confirming your claim has been referred. We will also write to the respondent explaining what we have done. It will be for the regulator to decide whether the underlying issue contained in the claim form requires investigation.

We will not forward your claim unless box 10.1 is ticked on the paper form, even if reference is made within the body of the claim form.

While we can forward a copy of the claim form in some instances, many regulators have online forms to assist with the process of raising a disclosure which should be completed by the claimant or representative.

You can find out more about individual regulator details.

Your claim can only be referred to prescribed regulators set out in guidance. You can find out more about the guidance.

Your claim to the employment tribunal will continue whether or not the claim is referred to a regulator unless you are informed otherwise. You can find more guidance about whistleblowing.

Where to send your claim

We cannot accept your claim unless it is on an approved (prescribed) form provided by HM Courts and Tribunals Service. It is very important that you use the approved form. The form is available in the following formats:

• an online version for submitting your claim
• a paper copy that can be downloaded and sent to the relevant central office

Submitting a claim online is the quickest way of sending a claim to the tribunal.

The addresses of the Central Offices to send a claim by post are:

Employment Tribunal Central Office (England and Wales)
PO Box 10218,
LEICESTER
LE1 8EG

Employment Tribunals Central Office Scotland
PO Box 27105
GLASGOW
G2 9JR

However, you can take your claim form, to one of the individual employment tribunal offices listed in the schedule to the Practice Directions (one schedule for England and Wales and one for Scotland) on presentation of claims.

Those offices are:

Employment tribunal offices

Aberdeen

Ground floor, AB1
48 Huntly Street
Aberdeen
AB10 1SH

Phone: 01224 593 137
Email: aberdeenet@justice.gov.uk

Bristol

Bristol Civil and Family Justice Centre
2 Redcliff Street
Bristol
BS1 6GR

Phone: 0117 929 8261
Email: bristolet@justice.gov.uk

Dundee

Ground Floor
Endeavour House
Greenmarket
Dundee
DD1 4BZ

Phone: 01382 221578
Email: dundeeet@justice.gov.uk

East London

2nd Floor
Import Building
2 Clove Crescent
London
E14 2BE

Phone: 020 7538 6161
Email: eastlondon@justice.gov.uk

Edinburgh

54-56 Melville Street
Edinburgh
EH3 7HF

Phone: 0131 226 5584
Email: edinburghet@justice.gov.uk

Glasgow

The Glasgow Tribunals Centre
20 York Street
Glasgow
G2 8GT

Phone: 0141 204 0730
Email: glasgowet@justice.gov.uk

Leeds

West Gate
6 Grace Street
Leeds
LS1 2RP

Phone: 0113 245 9741
Email: Leedset@justice.gov.uk

London Central

Victory House
30-34 Kingsway
London
WC2B 6EX

Phone: 020 7273 8603
Email: londoncentralet@justice.gov.uk

London South

Montague Court
101 London Road
West Croydon
CR0 2RF

Phone: 020 8667 9131
Email: londonsouthet@justice.gov.uk

Manchester

Alexandra House
14-22 The Parsonage
Manchester
M3 2JA

Phone: 0161 833 6100
Email: manchesteret@justice.gov.uk

Midlands (East)

Nottingham Justice Centre
Carrington Street
Nottingham
NG2 1EE

Phone: 0115 947 5701
Email: midlandseastet@justice.gov.uk

Midlands (West)

Centre City Tower
7 Hill Street
Birmingham
B5 4UU

Phone: 0121 600 7780
Email: midlandswestet@justice.gov.uk

Newcastle

Newcastle Civil Family Courts and Tribunal Centre
Barras Bridge
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 8QF

Phone: 0191 205 8750
Email: newcastleet@justice.gov.uk

Wales

Cardiff and the Vale Magistrates Court
Fitzalan Place
Cardiff
South Wales
CF24 0RZ

Phone: 029 2067 8100
Email: waleset@justice.gov.uk

Watford

3rd Floor
Radius House
51 Clarendon Rd
Watford
WD17 1HP

If your claim is accepted, the tribunal office which subsequently deals with your claim will normally be determined by the postcode of the place where you worked, where you applied to work or where the matter which you are complaining about happened. For example if you worked or applied for work in postcodes PE10, 11 or 12 your claim will normally be processed in the Midlands (East) office. If you are submitting the claim electronically, the claim form will be automatically routed to the correct office. Quoting an incorrect postcode could mean that your claim is sent to the wrong office and may cause a delay.

If you are submitting your claim by post and the incident you are complaining about took place in England and Wales, then, subject to what is said below about ’dual jurisdiction‘, they should be sent to the England & Wales Central Office.

If the incident you are complaining about took place in Scotland (subject to what is said about ’dual jurisdiction‘), then it should be sent to the Scottish central office.

Dual jurisdiction

In some limited circumstances, an employment tribunal in England and Wales would be able to deal with a case where the claimant worked in Scotland and a Scottish employment tribunal would be able to deal with some cases where the claimant worked in England or Wales.

If you intend to make your claim by post and are thinking about sending it to a different country to the one where you worked, then you may want to get advice.

If you send your claim to the employment tribunal (England and Wales) but that tribunal does not have the legal ability to deal with your case your claim will not be accepted. The same is true if you send it to the employment tribunal in Scotland and it does not have the legal ability to deal with your case.

If a claim is not accepted then time will continue to run against you so far as the time limit for making your claim is concerned.

When a claim has been successfully submitted online you will receive a receipt to confirm this. If you do not receive a receipt notification, you must contact the employment tribunal office immediately. You can check which office your claim form has been sent to by referring to the information provided later in this publication.

If you have submitted your claim by post to one of the central offices, or by hand to one of the designated offices, you will receive notification once it has been passed to the appropriate employment tribunal office for action.

You must keep a copy of your claim form for your records. It is your responsibility to ensure that the tribunal office receives your claim within the relevant time limit.

After you have sent your claim

Your claim will not be accepted if:

• it is not on an approved form
• you have not given all the required information including either an early conciliation certificate number or numbers or a declaration that you are exempt from the requirement to contact Acas

In those circumstances the form will be returned to you with a letter telling you the reason why and what action you should take. If a claim is not accepted time will continue to run against you so far as the time limit for making your claim is concerned.

If your claim is accepted, we will send you a letter to confirm this. That letter will contain a link to a publication ’Your claim – what next‘ which will tell you the next steps. At the same time we will send the respondent a copy of your claim form together with a form for their response.

In most cases we will also send a copy of your claim to Acas. An Acas conciliator will contact you to explore whether or not it might be possible to resolve the claim through conciliation and without the need for a tribunal hearing.

Correspondence

In future correspondence we will refer to you as the ‘claimant’ and to the person you are complaining against as the ‘respondent’. We will send a copy of your claim form to the respondent.

Parties are required under the rules of procedure to copy any letters or documents that they send to the tribunal (other than an application for a witness order) to all other parties and must state that they have done this. You can show that this has been done, for example, by the use of ‘cc’.

We will send you and the respondent any decision the tribunal makes.

You must let us know immediately if your contact details change. If you have a representative (a person you ask to act on your behalf), we will send all correspondence about your case to them and not to you. You must send any further requests for information through them and not straight to us.

Respondent’s costs

Generally, you do not have to pay the respondent’s cost. However, the tribunal can make an order for costs or preparation time if it believes that you or your representative have behaved abusively, disruptively or otherwise unreasonably in the way you have conducted your case or thinks that your claim was so weak that it should not have been raised. Costs are known as expenses in Scotland.

Employment judges and tribunals also have the power, where the hearing relates to a claim made on or after 6 April 2012, to order a party to make a payment to cover expenses incurred by any witness or witnesses who have been asked to attend the hearing.

Breach of contract claims

If you are making a claim for breach of contract you should be aware that employment tribunals can only award compensation up to the sum of £25,000. If the amount of compensation you are claiming for a breach of contract is more than £25,000 you should pursue it through the High Court in England and Wales or the Sheriff Court or Court of Session in Scotland. You might want to get legal advice.

Filling in the paper claim form

We have designed these guidance notes to be as helpful as possible. However, they do not give a full statement of the law. If you do not provide the information marked with an asterisk (*) your claim will not be accepted.

Your details

1.1 Tick the relevant box to show whether you want to be referred to as Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms or other.

1.2* Give your first name or names.

1.3* Give your surname or family name in CAPITAL letters.

1.4 Give your date of birth in day/month/year format (for example 25/02/1965) and tick the relevant box to tell us whether you are male or female. It is helpful if you provide your date of birth as this information is needed for certain types of claims.

1.5 Sex, Male, Female, Prefer not to say

1.6* Give your full address, including house number, street, town or city, county and postcode.

1.7 Please give the telephone numbers (including the full dialling code for a landline) where we can contact you during normal working hours.

1.8 Please give your mobile telephone number if different

1.9 Tick the relevant box to say how you would prefer us to contact you in future. If you want to communicate by email please check your emails every day. Although we will usually try to use email if you want us to, this will not always be possible as some documents need to be signed by an employment judge.

1.10 If you would prefer that we contact you in future by email, please provide your email address.

1.11 Would you be able to take part in hearings by video and phone?

Respondent’s details

If your claim is accepted we will send a copy of your claim to the organisation you are complaining about (the respondent) so that they can prepare a response to your complaint. It is important that you tell us the correct identity of the respondent to avoid any delay in processing your claim. You should be able to identify this by looking at the letter that offered you your job, your contract of employment or your wage slip.

2.1 Give the respondent’s name i.e. the name of your employer or the person or organisation you are claiming against (If you need to you can add more respondents at 2.5). The respondent’s name should match the respondent name on your ACAS conciliation certificate. If it does not, it may lead to your claim being rejected.

2.2* Give the respondent’s full address and postcode. If you worked at a different address you must also complete section 2.4, as this will determine which region or country will deal with your claim.

2.3 Give the early conciliation certificate number provided by Acas or say why you do not have one. Incorrectly claiming an exemption may lead to your claim being rejected. If in doubt please contact Acas.

2.4 Give the full address and postcode of the place where you worked, or applied to work, if this is different from the respondent’s address you gave at 2.2. If you worked from home please enter your home details, as we will treat your home address and postcode as your workplace. (If you do not complete this section your claim will be allocated to the tribunal region or country which covers the address specified in 2.2.)

2.5 and 2.7 Complaints may be against a single respondent or a number of respondents. In discrimination cases claims may be made against more than one respondent, the employer and any person the employer is responsible for, that you allege has committed an act, or acts, of discrimination against you.

If your claim is brought against more than one respondent please tick the box and enter the details of the second and any other respondents including their names, addresses.

2.6 and 2.8 Give the early conciliation certificate number provided by Acas or say why you do not have one. Incorrectly claiming an exemption may lead to your claim being rejected. If in doubt please contact Acas.

Please note separate Acas certificate numbers must be provided for each respondent named. Please use section 13 of this form to give details of additional respondents.

Multiple cases

3.1 If you are aware that your claim is one of a number of claims arising from the same or similar circumstances against the same respondent, please tick ‘Yes’ and, if you know the names of any of the other claimants include their names in the space provided. This will allow us to link your claim to other related claims.

Cases where the respondent was not your employer

4.1 If you were not employed by any of the respondents you have named at section 2 but are making a claim for some other reason connected to employment (for example relating to a job application or against a trade union) please tell us the type of claim your are making here.

Employment details

5.1 If your complaint is against your employer or ex-employer, please give the date when your employment started, whether your employment is continuing and, if it applies, the date when it ended or will end. Use day/month/year format (for example 08/09/2023).

5.2 Please give your job title and say what job you do or did for your employer.

Earnings and benefits

6.1 Please give the basic number of hours you work or worked each week – do not include overtime even if you work or worked it regularly.

6.2 Give details of your basic pay, before tax and any deductions but not including any overtime payments. Then give details of your normal take-home pay (this is your pay after tax, National Insurance and any other deductions but including overtime, commissions and bonuses). Your payslip should show these amounts. Please round the amounts to the nearest pound. Please tick the relevant box to show whether this is weekly, monthly or annually.

6.3 If your employment has ended, please tick the appropriate box to say if you either worked or were paid for a period of notice. If so, please tell us how long you worked or were paid for.

6.4 Please tick the appropriate box to say whether or not you were in your employer’s pension scheme. If Yes, please give your employers weekly contributions.

6.5 Give details of any other benefits you received from your employer. Examples might include a company car or medical insurance. Please describe what kind of benefit you received and give an idea of how much it was worth.

If your employment with the respondent has ended, what has happened since?

7.1 Please tick the appropriate box to say whether or not you have got another job since leaving your employment. If you have not, please now go straight to section 8.

7.2 If you have got another job, please tell us when you started (or will start) work.

7.3 Please tell us the amount you are earning (or will earn) each week, month or annually in your new job.

Type and details of claim

8.1* Please tick the appropriate box or boxes to say what you are complaining about.

8.2* Please give the background and details of your complaints.

Unfair dismissal

If your claim or part of it is about being unfairly dismissed by the respondent, or if you are claiming constructive dismissal, please use the box provided to explain the background to the dismissal and give any other information you think would be helpful to us.

If you disagree with the reason the respondent gave for dismissing you, please say what you think the reason was. You should describe the events which led up to your dismissal and describe how the dismissal took place, including dates, times and the people involved.

If you are claiming that the respondent’s actions led you to resign and leave your job (constructive dismissal), please explain in detail the circumstances surrounding this.

Discrimination

Discrimination can take place on the grounds:

• of sex (including complaints regarding equal pay) marriage or civil partnership

• pregnancy or maternity

• gender reassignment

• race

• sexual orientation

• religion or belief

• age

• a reason related to a disability

Discrimination laws cover all areas of employment including:

• recruitment
• training
• promotion
• dismissal

They also cover victimisation because you (or the respondent thought that you) complained about discrimination or assisted someone else to do so or you did something else connected to the rights arising under the Equality Act 2010.

Events that happen after you have left employment can also be covered by discrimination laws.

In the box please describe the incidents which you believe amounted to discrimination, the dates of these incidents and the people who were involved. Explain in what way you believe you were discriminated against. If you are complaining about discrimination when you applied for a job, please say what job you were applying for. If you are complaining about more than one type of discrimination, please provide separate details of the act (or acts) of discrimination.

You should describe how you have been affected by the events you are complaining about.

If you are unable to give the dates of all the incidents you are complaining about, you must at least give the date of the last incident or tell us if the discrimination is ongoing.

Redundancy payment

If you are claiming a redundancy payment please say whether you have asked your employer for payment. If so, please give the date in day/month/year format (for example 08/09/2023).

Please say whether or not you have applied to a Redundancy Payments Office (RPO) for payment. If you have applied to RPO please tell us whether your claim has been rejected, and, if so, the date shown on the rejection letter.

Other payments you are owed

If you are complaining about outstanding unpaid wages, holiday pay, payment for a period of notice or some other payment (other unpaid amounts could include unpaid expenses, commission or a bonus) tell us how much you are claiming.

Please explain why you believe you are entitled to this payment, setting out full details such as the period the payment covers and the rate of pay. If you have specified an amount, please say how you worked this out. If you are claiming more than one type of payment, please give the amounts you are claiming for each type of payment and explain how you worked out each amount.

Other complaints

Please state what your complaint is and explain the events leading up to your claim, including any relevant dates. If possible, please tell us the relevant law which applies to your claim.

What do you want if your claim is successful?

9.1 It would be helpful if you would state what you are seeking from the respondent if your claim is successful by ticking the appropriate box.

Recommendation

Where a tribunal finds that unlawful discrimination has been proved it has the power to recommend that an employer takes steps to reduce the effect of discrimination on you and on any other person such as your colleagues at work.

A recommendation will identify the steps that haven to be taken within a specified time and could, for example, include:

• retraining staff
• publishing selection criteria used for staff transfer or promotion
• setting up a review panel to deal with equal opportunities
• harassment and grievances

If the employer fails to comply with the recommendation and the tribunal also awarded you compensation that award can be increased. If no compensation was awarded initially it can be awarded once it is clear that the employer has not complied with the recommendation. Although not binding, failure to comply with the tribunal’s recommendation could be damaging to the employer’s reputation and be used in evidence against them in future discrimination claims.

9.2 Please enter the details in the space provided as to what compensation or remedy you are seeking. If you are claiming financial compensation, please give as much detail as you can about how much you are claiming and how you have calculated this sum.

Calculating compensation

Whether you will be awarded compensation and, if so the amount, will depend on the type of claim you are making. A variety of other factors will also be taken into account.

The simplest type of case in terms of working out likely compensation is a claim for unpaid wages. In such a case, if you win, the amount awarded by the tribunal will be the amount of the wages that should have been paid. The tribunal has no power in this type of case to award compensation for distress caused to you but may award additional compensation if you can show that the employer’s failure to pay you the correct amount has caused you any financial loss such as bank charges.

Unfair dismissal

In an unfair dismissal case the tribunal can order the employer to reinstate you in your old job or re-engage you in a comparable job. In either case you would also receive backdated wages. Other employment benefits such as membership of your employer’s pension scheme would be restored as if you had not been dismissed. However, if your employer refuses to re-employ you in accordance with the tribunal’s order, he cannot be compelled to do so but the tribunal can increase the compensation that it has already awarded you.

Assuming you are not returning to work with the employer then the tribunal can award financial compensation which is divided into a ‘basic’ award and a ‘compensatory’ award.

The basic award is calculated by a formula that takes account of your age, length of service (up to 20 years) and your weekly pay, up to a maximum figure per week. This figure normally changes each year.

When making a compensatory award the tribunal has to consider what is just and equitable.

Normally the calculation will be based on your ‘past loss’ - the wages you have lost up to the date of the tribunal hearing - and can also take account of ‘future loss’ - the wages you will have lost by the date the tribunal estimates you will find another job.

Future loss can be very hard to calculate because the tribunal can only speculate about what is likely based on a range of factors including local employment market conditions. If you have been in receipt of jobseekers allowance or income support the compensation you eventually receive from your employer will be reduced by the total amount of the benefit you received as your employer is required to repay it to the government. There is a maximum compensatory award.

It is important to be aware that you are under a legal obligation to ‘mitigate’ (minimise) your wage loss by trying to get another job and you will be asked to produce information about your efforts to do so. You should also note that the tribunal can reduce the basic and compensatory awards if it concludes, on the basis of the evidence it hears, that you have ‘contributed’ to (for example, partially been to blame for) your dismissal. The tribunal cannot normally award extra compensation in unfair dismissal cases for upset or hurt to feelings.

Discrimination cases

In a discrimination case the tribunal can award compensation for financial loss. This could be loss of wages if you were dismissed for a discriminatory reason or if you should have got a job you applied for but did not get it due to discrimination. However, again, you are expected to minimise your loss by trying to get another job.

In a discrimination case the tribunal can also award compensation for injury to feelings – that is a sum of money paid to compensate for the upset and distress caused by discrimination. The amount awarded will vary depending on how badly a person has been affected. Evidence will be needed so the tribunal can assess this.

In extreme cases if there is evidence that a person has become ill because of discrimination, then compensation can also be awarded for personal injury. However in cases like this the tribunal will require medical evidence which explains what illness has developed and how it is linked to the discrimination.

A tribunal can also make a recommendation in a discrimination case and if the employer does not do what is recommended compensation can be given instead.

Overall the tribunal award of compensation will be what is considered just and equitable in all the circumstances. If you have made both an unfair dismissal and discrimination claim you will not get ‘double’ compensation. In other words, if you received the wages you have lost as part of the unfair dismissal compensation you will not get that wage loss again as part of your discrimination compensation.

Information to regulators in protected disclosure cases

10.1 If appropriate, please tick the box and include the name of the regulator.

For clarification on this process please refer to the guidance set out under the heading ‘Public Information Disclosure’.

Your representative

You only need to fill in this section if you have appointed a person to act on your behalf (a representative). If you appoint a representative we will deal directly with them, not with you. Please do not give the name of a representative unless they have agreed to act for you. Do not give the name of a person or organisation who is only giving you advice on filling in this form.

11.1 If you know the name of the person representing you, give it here. If you don’t know it, leave this section blank.

11.2 Give the full name of the representative’s organisation (for example, the union, firm of solicitors or Citizens Advice).

11.3 Give the full address and postcode of the representative’s organisation.

11.4 Give the DX number (if known) of the representative’s organisation. (DX is a private mail system commonly used by a number of organisations such as legal firms, Citizens Advice etc.)

11.5 Give the representative’s phone number including the full dialling code.

11.6 Please give your representative’s mobile telephone number if different from the number provided at 11.5.

11.7 Give the reference number your representative has given to your case (if you know it).

11.8 If your representative would prefer that we contact them in future by email, please provide their email address. Please only include your representative’s email address if they check their emails every day.

11.9 Tick the appropriate box to say how they would prefer us to contact them in future (if you know) and give the email address if appropriate.

Disability

12.1 Please tick ‘Yes’ if you consider that you have a disability. If you feel able to do so please say what this disability is and give details of any help you may need from tribunal staff. Examples of the help we can provide include converting documents to Braille or larger print, and paying for sign language interpreters. Remember that if we do not know that you have a disability we will not know what reasonable adjustments might help you to participate in the tribunal process.

Details of additional respondents

Use the boxes to give details of extra respondents.

Additional information

Please do not send a covering letter with your claim form. You should give us any extra information that you want to tell us here. For example, you may want to give an explanation of why your claim is out of time or tell us whether you raised the issue with the respondent and, if so, what if any action was taken. If there is not enough space, please continue on a separate page and attach it to this form. If you are providing information on separate pages for a number of questions, please say here how many pages in total you have attached to the form.

Diversity monitoring questionnaire

You are not obliged to fill in this section but, if you do so, it would enable us to monitor our processes and help ensure that we provide fair treatment for all. The information you give us will be treated in the strictest confidence and will not form part of your case. It may be used for general research purposes where you will not be identified.

Postcode	Tribunal office
AL	Watford
BA1-16	Bristol
BA20-22	Bristol
B	Midlands (West)
BB	Manchester
BD	Leeds
BH	Bristol
BL	Manchester
BN1-10	London South
BN11-18	Bristol
BN19-42	London South
BN43-45	Bristol
BN46-99	London South
BR	London South
BS	Bristol
CA	Manchester
CB	Watford
CF	Wales
CH1-3	Manchester
CH4-8	Wales
CH41-66	Manchester
CM	East London
CO	East London
CR	London South
CT	London South
CV	Midlands (West)
CW1-5	Midlands (West)
CW6-10	Manchester
CW11-12	Midlands (West)
DA	London South
DE	Midlands (East)
DH	Newcastle
DL	Newcastle
DN1-20	Leeds
DN21-22	Midlands (East)
DN31-37	Midlands (East)
DN38-40	Leeds
DN41	Midlands (East)
DT1-11	Bristol
DY	Midlands (West)
E	East London
EC	London Central
EN	Watford
EX	Bristol
FY	Manchester
GL	Bristol
GU1-25	Watford
GU26-35	Bristol
GU46-52	Watford
HA	Watford
HD	Leeds
HG	Leeds
HP1-27	Watford
HR	Midlands (West)
HU	Leeds
HX	Leeds
IG	East London
IP	Watford
KT	London South
L	Manchester
LA	Manchester
LD	Wales
LE	Midlands (East)
LL	Wales
LN	Midlands (East)
LS	Leeds
LU	Watford
M	Manchester
ME	London South
MK	Watford
N1	London Central
N2-22	Watford
NE	Newcastle
NG	Midlands (East)
NN1-18	Watford
NN29	Watford
NP	Wales
NR	Watford
NW1	London Central
NW2	Watford
NW3	London Central
NW4	Watford
NW5	London Central
NW6-7	Watford
NW8	London Central
NW9-11	Watford
OL1-13	Manchester
OL14	Leeds
OL15-16	Manchester
OX	Watford
PE1-9	Watford
PE10-12	Midlands (East)
PE13-19	Watford
PE20-25	Midlands (East)
PE26-38	Watford
PL	Bristol
PO	Bristol
PR	Manchester
RG1-20	Watford
RG21-28	Bristol
RG29-45	Watford
RH	London South
RM	East London
S1-39	Leeds
S40-45	Midlands (East)
S46-79	Leeds
S80-81	Midlands (East)
S96-S98	Leeds
SA	Wales
SE	London South
SG1-19	Watford
SK	Manchester
SL	Watford
SM	London South
SN1-6	Bristol
SN7	Watford
SN8-26	Bristol
SO	Bristol
SP	Bristol
SR	Newcastle
SS	East London
ST	Midlands (West)
SW1	London Central
SW2	London South
SW3	London Central
SW4	London South
SW5-7	London Central
SW8-9	London South
SW10	London Central
SW11-20	London South
SY1-14	Midlands (West)
SY15-25	Wales
TA1-24	Bristol
TD**	Newcastle
TF	Midlands (West)
TN	London South
TQ	Bristol
TR	Bristol
TS	Newcastle
TW1-3	London South
TW4-6	Watford
TW7-12	London South
TW13-20	Watford
UB	Watford
W	London Central
WA	Manchester
WC	London Central
WD	Watford
WF	Leeds
WN	Manchester
WR	Midlands (West)
WS	Midlands (West)
WV	Midlands (West)
YO1-6	Leeds
YO7	Newcastle
YO8-20	Leeds
Y021-22	Newcastle
YO23-62	Leeds

TD** postcode area – English locations  only – Scotland has its own tribunals.