← Lessons 03-Industrial Relations and Employee Rights
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1. INTRODUCTION 2. MACHINERY TO PROMOTE THE IMPROVEMENT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS 3. EMPLOYEE RIGHTS 4. DISMISSAL 5. EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS 6. TRADE DISPUTES AND INDUSTRIAL ACTION 7. CONCLUSION 8. Quick Exam Numbers / Facts – Memorise These 9. Final Memory Checklist

5. EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS

5.1 INTRODUCTION

  • Employment Tribunals can hear complaints about unfair dismissal, employee rights, equal pay and discrimination.
  • Examples of discrimination areas listed include sex, race, disability and age.

5.2 COMPOSITION

  • Tribunals usually sit with three members: an Employment Judge plus two members from employer/employee representative panels.
  • Certain cases, such as unpaid wages, holiday or redundancy payments, may be heard by an Employment Judge alone.

5.3 BURDEN OF PROOF

  • In an unfair dismissal case, the employee must establish that dismissal occurred where this is disputed, for example, where the employer says the employee resigned.
  • The employer must show the dismissal was for a stipulated fair reason or another substantial reason.
  • If dismissal is unfair, the Tribunal may order reinstatement or re-engagement; otherwise, it may make a financial award.

5.4 PROCESS

  • The applicant completes an ET1.
  • Before submitting the ET1, the applicant must contact ACAS for early conciliation as described in the material.
  • ACAS issues confirmation/certificate of the conciliation stage.
  • The claim is then sent to the relevant Tribunal office.
  • Training material normal time limit: a claim can normally be made within 3 months of dismissal, although the Tribunal may allow a late claim.
  • The employer receives ET1 and responds using ET3.
  • ACAS may attempt settlement after a claim has been lodged; if settlement fails, the matter proceeds to a full Tribunal hearing.

5.5 MAXIMUM PENALTIES

  • Remedies include reinstatement (same job) or re-engagement (different job).
  • Basic award: calculated on the redundancy-payment basis; the historical maximum in the material is £16,140 (April 2020).
  • Compensatory award: compensates financial losses; the historical maximum stated is the lower of £88,519 or 12 months’ average pay.
  • Additional award may apply if a reinstatement/re-engagement order is not complied with; the historical maximum stated is £27,976.
  • Appeals on points of law may be taken to the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
  • The monetary limits above are historical figures from the training material and may have changed.