Preliminary hearings

Sometimes, ETs hold a preliminary hearing before the main trial. Lots of issues can be dealt with by writing to the ET, but sometimes a hearing is needed. Sometimes, preliminary hearings decide particular issues in the claim. This usually happens in cases where resolving one issue will decide the whole claim, avoiding the need for a lengthy trial. For example, in a claim for disability discrimination where the claimant’s disability is disputed, costs can be saved by holding a preliminary hearing to decide this, because if the ET concludes that the claimant is not disabled, the whole claim must fail. Other good examples are issues of employment status, for example, whether a claimant is a worker, or whether a claim was brought in time.

Preliminary hearings about case management issues take place in private (sometimes on the phone), but preliminary hearings that could result in the whole case being decided must be heard in public. Interim relief hearings (see Chapter 10) also take place in public. Some of the ET rules on public hearings have been adjusted to make it easier to conduct hearings remotely in public during the coronavirus pandemic. See the box on page 511.