Defending or Bringing an Employment Law Claim - Don't Slip Up

Employers and employees alike should note that from the 1^st October 2005, they must use the “official” forms when bringing or defending a claim in the Employment Tribunal. Failure to use the official documents could result in a claim or a defence to a claim being rejected.

 

The purpose of the new forms is to ensure that individuals bringing a claim, “claimants” and those defending a claim, “respondents”, provide set items of information to the Employment Tribunal. For example, a claimant is now generally required to provide information as to whether he/she has complied with the statutory grievance procedures (which came into force on 1^st October 2004). More specifically, a claimant must say whether he/she raised the subject of their complaint in writing with their employer at least 28 days prior to presenting the Tribunal claim. Where a claimant has not raised such a “grievance”, he/she must explain why. Depending upon the information given by the claimant and the type of claim, the respondent may also be asked to provide information about whether such a grievance was raised.

 

The Employment Tribunal does allow parties to make or defend an Employment Tribunal claim online at the Employment Tribunal Service website www.employmentribunals.gov.uk. However, the documents to be completed are fairly lengthy and care needs to be taken because a failure to complete the process correctly could again result in a claim or defence being rejected with potentially serious consequences. For example, a failure to respond to a claim within the time allowed (28 days from the date a copy of the claim was sent) or responding in an incorrect manner (for example, not providing all the required information) could result in the Employment Tribunal taking a decision about the claim, such as a decision that the respondent is liable to pay compensation to the claimant, without first giving the respondent an opportunity to argue their case.  

 

The requirement to use official Employment Tribunal forms when bringing or responding to an Employment Tribunal claim is merely the tip of the iceberg of a number of changes that were made to Employment Tribunal procedures last year, together with changes to the way employment disputes should be managed before a reference to the Employment Tribunal is made. The new rules of procedure provide a complex and detailed set of rules baffling employees and employers. For that reason, we recommend clear advice is sought at the outset if you feel that you may wish to bring a claim or find yourself in a position where you have to defend one, often a single telephone call is all that is required.