Archive for the ‘Employment Tribunal fees’ Category

Videocast – changes to Employment Tribunal system

avatar Posted on April 12th, 2013 by Richard Kenyon

The Employment Tribunal system is set for a major overhaul. There are various changes on the horizon, including early conciliation; new Employment Tribunal fees and rules; changes to unfair dismissal compensation and new financial penalties. 

Some proposals are due to come into force in a matter of months. Our videocast highlights the key changes and how they may affect you. Further detail is provided in our accompanying briefing note, “Employment Tribunal litigation – understanding the changes”.

Posted in Employment law reforms, Employment Tribunal fees, Employment Tribunal litigation

Employment Tribunal fees – online payment

avatar Posted on January 17th, 2013 by Louise Fernandes-Owen

The Ministry of Justice has published its digital strategy, indicating that it will provide an online service for the payment of Employment Tribunal fees from July 2013.

Here is a reminder of the proposed fee structure. This was confirmed by the Ministry of Justice back in July 2012, in its response to the consultation on Employment Tribunal fees:

• Level 1 claims – these are claims “generally for sums due on termination of employment e.g. unpaid wages, payment in lieu of notice, redundancy payments”. The issue fee for such claims will be £160; the hearing fee will be £230.

• Level 2 claims – these include those relating to unfair dismissal, discrimination, equal pay and whistleblowing. The issue fee for such claims will be £250; the hearing fee will be £950.

• Multiple claims – the issue fees and hearing fees will be higher, depending on the number of claimants in the multiple claim. For example, for Level 1 claims, the issue fee for 2-10 claimants will be £320 (twice the single fee).

• Other fees – other fees will apply to specific applications. For example, for an application for review in relation to a Level 1 claim, the fee would be £100.

• Employment Appeal Tribunal – the proposed fee for an appeal is £400; the proposed fee for the hearing is £1,200.

Many people on low incomes may not be required to pay the full fees, under the same remission system which already exists for court users who pay fees to use the civil courts’ services. The Government has also stated that it is committed to reviewing the fee structure once implemented to assess its impact in order to consider if changes are needed.

Posted in Employment law reforms, Employment Tribunal fees

New rules, new fees

avatar Posted on July 24th, 2012 by Louise Fernandes-Owen

The Government has proposed a whole host of changes to employment law over the last few months – most recently, a fundamental review of the employment tribunal rules and the controversial introduction of fees for bringing a claim.

Click here to read an article in People Management written by Richard Kenyon, Head of the Employment and Pensions Group at Field Fisher Waterhouse, which discusses the impact of these proposals.

Posted in Employment law reforms, Employment Tribunal fees

Consultation – Charging Fees in Employment Tribunals

avatar Posted on December 21st, 2011 by Louise Fernandes-Owen

The Ministry of Justice has recently launched a consultation on the proposal to charge fees for bringing a claim in the Employment Tribunal. This is one of the Government’s many controversial proposals, forming part of the wider reforms to encourage early resolution of workplace disputes.

In the financial year 2010/11, 218,000 Employment Tribunal claims were presented and 2,048 appeals were made to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, costing the taxpayer £84.2 million. The Government has therefore proposed two fee charging structures to reduce the cost to the taxpayer whilst protecting access to justice for the most vulnerable.

There are two proposed fee options. Option one would require a claimant to pay an issue fee between £150-£250 to bring a claim. A further fee, between £250-£1,250, would be payable by the claimant if the claim went to a hearing. Option two requires the claimant to provide an estimate of the award they are seeking from the Tribunal. The issue fee will vary from £200-£1,750, depending on whether the claimant is seeking an award higher than £30,000. For both options, the Tribunal would also have the power to order the losing party to reimburse the fees of the successful party.

The proposals will bring Employment Tribunals more in line with Civil Courts where claimants are required to pay an issue fee. However, there are concerns that the introduction of fees will deny workers basic access to justice. For example, the TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber commented that the Government’s proposals to introduce fees “will effectively prevent the poorest and most vulnerable workers from ever being able to get justice”. However, it is worth noting that HM Courts & Tribunals Service operates a “remission system” whereby an individual may be entitled to part or full remission of fees. If, for example, a claimant is in receipt of Jobseekers’ Allowance or Income Support this may mean that no fee is payable.

The CBI has welcomed the introduction of fees as a good way of weeding out more of the weak and vexatious claims and, in principle, it may appear that the fee proposals would deter claimants from seeking to bring unmeritorious claims. However, arguably, due to the proposal for fees to be means tested, it may not in practice reduce the number of claims being brought.

The consultation closes on 6 March 2012. If the Government decides to implement option one, fees would be introduced in 2013. If option two is adopted, it is unlikely to come into force until 2014.

Posted in Employment Tribunal fees

Unfair dismissal qualifying period increases and new fees for bringing claims

avatar Posted on October 3rd, 2011 by Louise Fernandes-Owen

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has confirmed today that the qualification period for the right to claim unfair dismissal will be extended from one to two years from 1 April 2012.

The announcement follows some confusion last week. BIS originally published a consultation paper earlier this year which covered this issue (amongst others) but the response to the consultation has not yet been published. When BIS published its ‘One-In, One-Out, Second Statement of New Regulation’ last week, it appeared to indicate that a decision had already been reached on whether to increase the qualifying period for the right to claim unfair dismissal. BIS subsequently reissued the publication last week, indicating that this remained a “proposal”.

The reissued publication also stated that the Government will be introducing fees for lodging employment tribunal claims. Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed this in his speech to the Conservative party conference today, indicating that claimants will only get back the fee if they win. According to a BBC report today, the fees will come into force from April 2013 and the amount that will be charged and how it should be paid will be subject to consultation starting by the end of November. Some newspapers have given an indication of the fees. For example, the Guardian reports that anyone applying to make a claim at an employment tribunal will have to pay a fee of between £100 and £150, a full-scale hearing will cost £1,000, and any claim for more than £30,000 in compensation will cost more.

Both these announcements are significant changes to employment law. However, the detail regarding the introduction of fees has yet to be confirmed, so watch this space. This seems more to do with conference week posturing by a Chancellor under pressure than well thought out policy development. Making a class of people with less than two years’ continuous employment vulnerable to arbitrary dismissal is one way of creating a “flexible workforce”. However, those deprived of the right to claim unfair dismissal will be forced to consider bringing far more complicated and costly claims for discrimination. Many of them will be the young, women returning to work following time off to have children and ethnic minority and disabled employees struggling to get a foothold in the workforce. It will also be interesting to see whether the Tribunal fee system, which has been considered and rejected many times before, stands up to scrutiny once an inevitable list of exemptions has been worked through and once the cost of administering the collection of payments has been added in to the benefit/burden equation. It will no doubt be said that those who have been wronged will have nothing to fear from a fee system as the fees will be returned if they win their cases. That rather ignores the relative financial risk that an employee faces in litigation and the complexities of employment related disputes.

Posted in Employment Tribunal fees, Unfair dismissal