Employment Tribunals - A basic checklist of what is involved

1. The individual (the claimant) submits an ET1* – the Claim Form. Normally the claimant must confirm that s/he has raised the subject matter of the claim as a written grievance with the employer and has waited 28 days before submitting a claim to the Employment Tribunal (ET). On receipt of the claim, the ET decide whether or not to accept the claim - the outcome depends upon whether or not the claim was presented correctly with the required information, the grievance procedure (normally) had been complied with and whether or not the ET has the power to hear the claim.
2. The employer (the respondent) has 28 days from the date that the ET send out the notification of the claim to respond on an ET3* - the Response Form, giving their grounds for resisting the claim. On receipt of the response, the ET decide whether or not to accept the response - the outcome depends upon whether or not the response was presented correctly with the required information, and within the relevant time period.
3. If the response is not lodged, lodged late, or lodged in time but rejected because it was not presented correctly and/or did not contain the required information; a tribunal chairman will be able to make a "default judgement" - i.e. deliver a judgement on liability or liability and remedy, without a hearing.
4. A Conciliation Officer is appointed by ACAS. The Conciliation Officer contacts both parties to find out if there is a way of settling the dispute. There are fixed time periods of either "short conciliation" (7 weeks) or "standard conciliation" (13 weeks) depending on the complexity of the claim. Some claims are inherently complex (e.g. discrimination claims) and for these there is no fixed time period. For short or standard conciliation the conciliation period commences when the claimant's form is sent to the respondent. A full tribunal hearing cannot be held until the fixed period is over, although the tribunal may hold a different type of hearing, such as a Case Management Discussion or Pre Hearing Review.
5. Usually during this time, the ET issue a letter to both parties, setting out what is going to happen and the method that they have chosen. Normally there is a 14-day deadline for the claimant to tell the respondent what remedy they are claiming and (if it is compensation) how this has been calculated. There is also normally a 14 -day deadline for both parties to list all the relevant documents in their possession – whether they are in their favour or not.
6. The disclosure process for the documents can go on for a while as both sides work out what they need to see/ask for from the lists.
7. Either party can ask for “further and better particulars” or “written answers to questions” at any point.
8. The ET advise the date(s) of the hearing and how long it will last for. At this point there is an immediate requirement to let the ET know if the time allotted isn’t sufficient or if all the witnesses won’t be available for those dates.
9. Both parties prepare the witness statements that will be used at the hearing and exchange them, normally before the hearing.
10. Normally 7 days before the hearing the parties agree a bundle of documents that will be used at the hearing. Usually the claimant prepares the bundle and copies (as they have brought the claim), however sometimes the ET directs that this will be the responsibility of the respondent (often if the respondent has legal representation and the claimant does not).
11. Preparation work for the hearing itself.
12. The hearing - advocacy.

You can enter a claim (ET1) or give your grounds for defending one (ET3), on-line or by hard copy. The new on-line forms are available from 1 October 2004 on the Employment Tribunals' website. To do so, or to find out more click on this link www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk.
To find out more about ACAS click on this link www.acas.org.uk.

* Completion of the new ET1 and ET3 forms is not mandatory until 6 April 2005 however, the information required as set out in them is prescribed and must be provided from 1 October 2004 onwards.

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