The employment tribunal is the step between informal arbitration and court and is used to settle unlawful claims against their employer.

Settlement agreements are often the best course of action to take, saving you time, money and stress in the process. However, this is not always possible.

At Cavendish Employment Law, we have an expert team of employment law solicitors with experience winning high-value settlements and employment tribunal claims for many senior executives throughout London.

We pride ourselves on constructing clear and confident cases for all claimants which will give them the best chance of success.

100% Success Rate in Contentious Cases for both Employees & Employers

Contact our employment lawyers at 0207 9657203

or contact us online for a callback.

ACAS - The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service

Before you make an employment claim, you should consult and follow the ACAS Code of Practice, which provides guidance on disciplinary action, grievances and responsibilities between employees, employers and representatives.

The Code recommends that the employee:

Informs their employer about the nature of the problem – this should be done in writing and given to a manager who is not the subject of the grievance.

The Code recommends that the employer:

Arrange a meeting with the employee to discuss the matter;
Allow the employee to attend the meeting with a fellow worker, trade union representative or official trade union employee
Decide on what action should be taken following the meeting and communicate this to the employee without unreasonable delay.

If your workplace problem ends up before a Tribunal, the code is not mandatory, however, the panel will take into account whether the Code was followed or not.

If you are unhappy with your employer’s proposed action to resolve the issue, you can appeal through the internal grievance procedure.

Early Conciliation

If it is not possible to resolve your issue either informally or through your employer’s formal grievance procedure, you must notify Acas if you intend to make a claim to an Employment Tribunal.

In most employment disputes, the parties will need to take part in the Acas Early Conciliation Scheme, which is a process that attempts to resolve the case before it goes to a Tribunal. If early conciliation fails in reaching an agreement with your employer, you can make a claim to an Employment Tribunal.

Time Limits

If you think your dispute will proceed to a tribunal hearing, you should act as soon as possible.

Most claims have a time limit of three months, which include:

It’s important to note that conditions apply in certain situations, so you should seek legal advice from employment law specialists without delay to ensure your claim is still valid.

During the early conciliation process, the clock effectively stops and this period is not included in the three-month time limit.

The Tribunal Process

It is always our mission to resolve employment grievances with the least amount of stress, cost and time for our clients, and so negotiating a settlement agreement before going to a Tribunal is often the best course of action.

However, where settlement negotiations are not successful, we aim to provide you with expert representation at an Employment Tribunal to ensure you get the solution you deserve.

Employment Tribunal cases are public hearings and are usually heard by an employment judge and two tribunal members. Despite this, they are generally less formal than courts. We understand that taking formal action against your employer can be highly stressful and so it’s our aim to build a strong case on your behalf and give you the best possible chance of success. It is important that you contact us as soon as possible so we can start work on your case straight away.

We will help throughout your claim, including representation during any preliminary hearing, requesting relevant documents from the employer, drafting pleadings, interviewing witnesses and organising their attendance at the hearing, and providing expert representation during the Tribunal hearing.

Legal Fees & Pricing

Employment Tribunal fees, which were in place since 2013, were ruled unlawful in July 2017. There is now no fee for bringing a claim with an Employment Tribunal.

At Cavendish Employment Law, we provide senior executives and employees with flexible legal costs including fixed fees, capped fees and no-win-no-fee arrangements.