Responding to an employment tribunal claim (T422)

Question 1

General data protection regulations

Accepted Answer

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

Read the standards we follow when processing your data

Please note: 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 tribunal proceedings or to reach settlement of the claim.

Question 2

Welsh Language Act

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 3

What do employment tribunals do?

Accepted Answer

Employment tribunals hear cases and make decisions on matters to do with employment such as unfair dismissal, redundancy payments discrimination and 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.

Question 4

Further information

Accepted Answer

The employment tribunals have a customer contact centre which 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 whether the claim made against you is likely to be successful.

Question 5

Claim process summary

Accepted Answer

1. Dispute resolution

Dispute arises.
Try to resolve informally with employer.
Early conciliation with Acas (advisory, conciliation and arbitration service).

2. Submit a claim to the tribunal

Estimated time: 5 days

Send a claim to tribunal.
Claim is accepted (or not accepted and returned) and sent to the respondent.

3. Respondent’s response

The respondent has 28 days to respond.

4. Case management

Estimated time: 26 weeks

If the respondent did not respond to the claim, a judgment is issued.
If there is a response, both parties can make applications within the case.
A hearing is held.

5. Judgment

Judgment issued within 4 weeks after the final hearing.

Judgments issued to parties from February 2017 are published on the online public register.

Question 6

Further help and advice

Accepted Answer

You do not need to take advice before you fill in the response form but you may find it helpful to do so. You can get information on employment law from Acas who may also be able to assist you resolve the claim against you through conciliation and without the need for a tribunal hearing.

The Acas help line number is 0300 123 1100. The Acas website address is www.acas.org.uk.

You can get more help and advice from:

Free advice services such as a citizens advice or a law centre. The website address for Citizens Advice in England and Wales is www.citizensadvice.org.uk and in Scotland, www.cas.org.uk
Employers’ organisations – if you are a member
Solicitors and other professional advisers

Question 7

How do I respond to the claim?

Accepted Answer

Your response will not be accepted by the tribunal office unless it is on a form which is approved (prescribed) by HM Courts & Tribunals Service. The form is available in the following formats:

You must complete and return your response form to the tribunal office to reach us by the date given on the letter sent with the claim form. It is your responsibility to ensure that the tribunal office receives your response within the relevant time limit; that is 28 days from the date we sent you a copy of the claimant’s claim form.

Respond online

Respond without legal representation at :https://tribunal-response.employmenttribunals.service.gov.uk/.

If you’re a legal professional or another type of professional who received a 16-digit reference number in your response pack, you can respond online using a MyHMCTS account.

When you respond online, it will be sent automatically to the tribunal office dealing with the case. There is no need to send a copy of your form or to send any other documents by post at this stage.

You should keep a copy of your response form for your records. Whenever you contact us you must quote the case number on our letter and any relevant documents. When you write to us by letter or email, you should send a copy to the claimant and any other respondent in the case and tell us you have done so. If you are asking the tribunal to make an order or take other action, you must also tell the claimant they should send any objections to the tribunal as soon as possible.

If the claimant is claiming a redundancy payment or notice pay, wages or holiday pay which you cannot pay due to financial difficulties, you should explain this in your response and tell us about any formal proceedings that are being taken in connection with your financial situation.

Question 8

What can I do if I cannot meet the deadline for sending in my response?

Accepted Answer

You can ask the tribunal to extend the time limit if it is not possible for you to fill in the form in time. For example, if you need more time because an important witness, such as the person who took the decision to dismiss the claimant, is abroad on holiday and you need information from them. If you do not ask for such an extension within the 28-day time limit the claim is likely to be treated as one to which no defence has been submitted and a judgment will probably be made against you. Applications for an extension of time must be in writing and provide full reasons why you are asking for the extension. If you apply after the 28 day time limit has expired you must, in addition, either send in a draft of the response you wish to submit or explain why this cannot be done. An employment judge will then decide whether to grant an extension. You will be informed of their decision and cannot assume an extension has been granted until then.

Question 9

Information needed before your response can be accepted

Accepted Answer

The tribunal cannot accept your response unless you provide certain minimum information. By law, you must tell us:

your full name and address
whether you want to resist (defend) all or part of the claim;

If your response is not on a form approved (prescribed) by HM Courts & Tribunals Service or does not contain the information shown above, it will be returned and the claim dealt with as if we have not received a response.

Question 10

What will happen if the tribunal does not accept my response?

Accepted Answer

Your response will not be accepted and so you cannot resist the claim if:

your response is not on a form prescribed by HM Courts & Tribunals Service
the tribunal office does not receive your response within the time limit and an extension of time has not been granted
your response does not provide all the minimum information

In these circumstances, an employment judge may issue a judgment if they considers it appropriate. If no response is accepted in relation to a claim then an employment judge can decide the claim without the need for a hearing although a hearing to determine compensation may sometimes be required. You would only be entitled to participate in such a hearing to the extent permitted by the employment judge who hears the case.

Question 11

What happens when the tribunal receives my response?

Accepted Answer

If the tribunal accepts your response, we will send a copy to the claimant. In most cases we will also send a copy to Acas.

Question 12

Acas’s role

Accepted Answer

Where we send a copy of your response to Acas, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, an Acas conciliator will contact you to explore whether it may be possible to resolve the claim against you, through conciliation, and without the need for a tribunal hearing.

Question 13

Public Interest Disclosure claims

Accepted Answer

Where a claim consists of, or includes, a claim that the claimant has made a protected disclosure under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (otherwise known as ‘whistleblowing’) HM Courts & Tribunals Service is required, where the claimant has given their consent that we should do so by ticking box 10.1 of the ET1 form, to copy the claim form or extracts from it to the relevant regulator. Where the claim contains complaints other than the ‘whistleblowing’ complaint, all references to the other complaints will be deleted prior to HM Courts & Tribunals Service copying the claim to the regulator.

Where the claimant has given their consent that we should copy the claim form, or extracts from it, to the regulator we will write to you to say when and to whom the form was sent. It will be for the regulator to decide whether the underlying issue contained in the claim form requires investigation. This will not affect in any way how the claim is processed by HM Courts & Tribunals Service.

Further guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/whistleblowing.

Question 14

What should I do if the case settles?

Accepted Answer

Both parties should let us know immediately if the case is settled before the hearing. The conciliation officer will let us know if your case is settled through Acas. 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.

Question 15

Breach of contract claims

Accepted Answer

If a claimant is no longer employed, he or she may make a claim against an employer for breach of contract. In certain circumstances, this entitles you to make an employer’s contract claim. Any such employer’s contract claim must be included in the response form and must be made within 28 days of the date that the copy of the claim form was sent by the tribunal.

Question 16

Correspondence

Accepted Answer

When we write to you we will refer to you as the ‘respondent’. We will send a copy of your response form to the claimant.

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 this has been done. You can show that this has been done, for example, by the use of “cc”.

We will send you and the claimant any decision or judgment the tribunal makes.

You must let us know immediately if your contact details change.

If you have a representative acting for you, we will send all correspondence about the case to them and not to you and you must pass any further requests for information through them and not straight to us.

Question 17

Can I correspond by email?

Accepted Answer

Yes – a full list of employment tribunal email addresses can be found at the back of this publication. You should make sure you quote the case number in any correspondence and in the title bar of the e-mail and send it to the tribunal office dealing with the claim.

The office will correspond by email if this is your preference.

Documents you send to the tribunal must be in a ‘Word’ compatible format. We will not accept documents in other formats. When we receive your e-mail, we will send you an electronic acknowledgement. Do not send further e-mails or phone the tribunal office unless you have not received an acknowledgement within two working days of sending your email.

You are responsible for making sure that the tribunal receives any correspondence sent by email within the relevant time limit. If you want us to communicate with you by email, you will need to supply a valid email address. You can do this by filling in box 2.6 on the response form or at any stage later. When you ask us to communicate with you by e-mail you are agreeing that you check for incoming email at least once every day and that we may pass your email address to other people involved in the claim.

Question 18

The hearing

Accepted Answer

You will find the date, time and place of the hearing, and the estimated time it will take on the letter sent to you with the claim form. If you are not sure about where and when the hearing is to take place, please contact the tribunal office. Make sure that you arrive at the hearing centre at least 30 minutes before the hearing is due to start, making allowances for possible travel delays. You may find that on arrival you are asked to wait until the tribunal completes other hearings.

Question 19

Can I ask for the hearing to be postponed?

Accepted Answer

You must make any request for a postponement in writing as soon as possible giving full reasons for your request. You must also send a copy of your request to the claimant so that they are aware of it.

An employment judge will decide whether to grant a postponement.

If you or the claimant (or somebody else acting for you or the claimant) fail to appear at a hearing, the tribunal may decide the case in your or their absence.

Question 20

Preliminary issues

Accepted Answer

You will be notified if there are any preliminary issues which the tribunal will need to decide, for example whether the claim has been submitted to the tribunal within the required time limit. Where such issues arise they will usually be dealt with at a preliminary hearing.

Question 21

Preparing for a hearing

Accepted Answer

It can be useful to watch a hearing at a tribunal so you understand the procedure and what happens. You can do this by contacting any tribunal office and asking if there is a suitable hearing for you to observe.

Question 22

What documents do I need for the hearing?

Accepted Answer

You may have documents which support your defence and want to put them before the tribunal as evidence. If the notice of hearing sent with the claim form includes case management orders relating to documents you must comply with them. If it does not, you must still make sure the claimant has reasonable notice (at least seven days) of the documents you intend to use at the hearing.

Question 23

What will happen at the hearing?

Accepted Answer

The tribunal will decide whether the claim succeeds or fails and if it succeeds, what to award to the claimant.

It is usual in claims such as the one you are defending, for the employment judge to sit alone. If you think it should be heard by a full tribunal, please write to the tribunal, giving your reasons.

During the hearing the employment judge will make sure that you take the steps described below in a calm and measured way. However, he or she may have to be firm in moving the case on to make sure that it proceeds at a pace which allows it to be dealt with within the time set aside.

The claimant will normally give evidence and call any witnesses first. However, there is no absolute rule as to which side starts. You and your witnesses will have to give evidence on oath or affirmation. If you lie after swearing an oath or affirmation you could be convicted of perjury. In England and Wales if case management orders have been sent with the claim form they will probably require the parties to exchange witness statements by a set date. The witness statements will be read by the tribunal and will not usually be read out at the hearing by the witness. In Scotland witness statements are not normally used but they can be in some cases if ordered by a judge.

You can ask the claimant and their witnesses questions (this is called ‘cross-examination’). Finally, the employment judge may ask some questions. The same procedure is then usually followed for the other witnesses and then with your evidence. In England and Wales, once all the evidence has been heard, the employment judge will usually announce the judgment and the reasons for it. In Scotland the judgment is less frequently announced at the end of the hearing.

Question 24

What happens next?

Accepted Answer

Wherever possible you or your representative will be given a copy of the tribunal’s judgment on the day of the hearing. If this is not possible you or your representative will be sent a copy of the written judgment as soon as possible after the hearing. You must abide by the Employment Tribunal judgment as it is legally binding.

Where the judgment with reasons is given orally at the hearing written reasons for the judgment will also be given if you ask for them at the hearing or make a written request within 14 days of the date that the judgment was sent to you.

You must attend the hearing prepared to deal with remedy should the claimant be successful.

If you do not give the tribunal the necessary information, a further hearing may be needed, which could cause an order for costs (or in Scotland, expenses) to be made against you.

Question 25

Do I have to pay the claimant’s costs?

Accepted Answer

Generally, no. 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 defence to the 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.

Question 26

Financial penalties

Accepted Answer

Employment tribunals will have the discretionary power, where a claim has been made after 6 April 2014, to order a respondent who has lost at a case to pay a financial penalty of up to £5,000 if it considers that the employer’s breach of the claimant’s employment rights had ‘one or more aggravating features’. The minimum amount of any penalty will be set at £100.

A financial penalty may be ordered against an employer even if a financial award has not been made to the claimant. However, if a financial award has been made, the financial penalty must be 50% of the amount of the award. Tribunals must take account of the employer’s ability to pay when deciding whether to order a penalty. Financial penalties will not be paid to the claimant in the case but to the Secretary of State and is paid into the Consolidated Fund. If the employer pays the penalty within 21 days sum payable will be reduced by 50%.

Question 27

Disability or special needs

Accepted Answer

If you or anyone coming to a tribunal with you has a disability or a particular need, you should contact the tribunal office dealing with your case to discuss the matter. Examples of the help we can provide include converting documents to Braille or larger print and paying for sign language interpreters. We can also provide hearing-induction loops in the room where the hearing is held if you need them. Please contact us as soon as possible so we can make appropriate or suitable arrangements.

Question 28

Expenses

Accepted Answer

HM Courts and Tribunals Service does not, where the claim was made on or after 6 April 2012, meet the expenses or allowances of parties, witnesses and volunteer representatives attending an employment tribunal hearing of any type (other than where the person attending the hearing has been called by the tribunal to give medical evidence).

If the claim was made on, or before 5 April 2012, then our publication - Expenses and allowances payable to parties and witnesses attending an Employment Tribunal is available at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/employment-tribunal-forms.

Question 29

Standards of service

Accepted Answer

If you are unhappy with our service, please contact any tribunal office or our Customer Contact Centre for a copy of our publication EX343 - Unhappy with our service - what can you do? This explains our complaints procedure.

Question 30

Employment tribunal offices

Accepted Answer

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

Phone: 01923 281 750
Email: watfordet@justice.gov.uk

Our offices are open from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday.

We will direct you to a map showing the location of the office where the hearing has been arranged.

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