Remedies

A claim can be brought in the employment tribunal if an employer:

• fails to deal with the application “in a reasonable manner”;

• fails to notify an employee of the decision;

• rejects the request based on incorrect facts; and/or

• treats the application as withdrawn for no good reason.

There are three months in which to bring a tribunal claim. Compensation is limited to eight weeks’ pay (capped at £475 per week: 2015-16) giving a maximum of £3,800. But there is a tribunal fee of £250 to issue the claim and £950 for a hearing (£1,200), plus further fees for any appeals. Some low paid workers may qualify for fee remission (reduction or waiver of the fee). A number of unions have put in place arrangements to loan members the fee, subject to meeting conditions such as the likelihood of the claim being successful.

In some circumstances, an employee may also be able to claim discrimination under the EA 2010 (see below).

The first step in any potential claim is to submit an Acas Early Conciliation Notification Form. This step is mandatory and must be taken within the three month deadline for bringing the claim. Otherwise it will be rejected. A copy of the Form is available from the Acas website (www.acas.org.uk).

For more information on bringing claims in the employment tribunal, see LRD’s annual employment law guide Law at Work (www.lrdpublications.org.uk/publications.php?pub=BK&iss=1771).