New tribunal rules and fees

New rules set out the methods that must be used to issue all tribunal claims from 29 July 2013. The government’s preferred method is online, using the online service at: www.employmenttribunals.service.gov.uk

There is more information about the new rules on the Ministry of Justice website (www.justice.gov.uk/tribunals/employment).

A claim for unfair dismissal has an issue fee of £250 and a hearing fee of £950. A claim to be paid a statutory redundancy payment has an issue fee of £160 and a hearing fee of £230. In both cases, the fee must be paid no matter how small the claim. Where more than one claim is made on the same ET1 Form, only one fee, the largest, is payable.

Some low-paid workers will qualify for remission of the fee, but the test for remission takes into account both income and household (as opposed to individual) capital. Anyone with household savings of £3,000 will not be eligible for remission, meaning that in practice, many unemployed workers who may have just received a lump sum redundancy payment, or payment in lieu of notice will not qualify.

Only claims with the fee paid or a remission application form properly completed will be processed by the employment tribunal. A claim will be rejected if it is not accompanied by the fee or an application for remission. Even with a rejection, the time limit for bringing the claim will continue to run.