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Being taken to an employment tribunal by an employee
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Overview
Before the hearing
At the hearing
If you lose the case
If you disagree with a tribunal decision
1. Overview
An employee can take you to an employment tribunal over various issues, including:
pay
dismissal
discrimination
The tribunal is independent and can ask you to pay compensation or reinstate the employee if you lose the case.
Solve the dispute without a hearing
You will probably be contacted by Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) who will offer to work with you and your employee to try to solve the problem - this is called ‘conciliation’.
You can call Acas for help and advice:
Acas
Telephone: 0300 123 1100
Textphone: 18001 030 0123 1100
Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm
Saturday, 9am to 1pm
Find out about call charges
Respond to a claim
The tribunal will let you know formally if a claim has been made against you if conciliation doesn’t work. You can respond by either:
using the online response service
filling in the employment tribunal response form
You must respond to the claim within 28 days.
You can request an extension giving you more time to answer the claim, but if you don’t respond, or are late, the tribunal may make a decision without a hearing.
Settlement agreements
You could also sign a settlement agreement.
This offers the employee compensation, who in return drops their claim.
The employee must get legal advice before they sign a settlement agreement. You’re not required to pay all the legal fees, but employers often do to help the process go forward.
Get help or legal advice
You may want to get legal advice if a claim is made against you.
Call the employment tribunal enquiry line for general guidance on how the process works. They can’t give legal advice.
Employment tribunal enquiry line
Telephone: 0300 123 1024 (England and Wales)
Telephone: 0141 354 8574 (Scotland)
Minicom: 01509 221 564
Find out about call charges
If you’re in Northern Ireland
Your case will be dealt with by the Office of Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal.
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Before the hearing
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Last updated: 6 April 2014
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