ET1 Claim Form
[ch 14: pages 475-476]A tribunal claim is made by completing a Claim Form known as a Form ET1. The claim can be made online or by post. Around 90% of employment tribunal claims are made online. Here is the link: https://employmenttribunals.service.gov.uk/apply. Alternatively, a paper copy of Form ET1 can be downloaded from the gov.uk website.
Use of Form ET1 is compulsory. If the claim is not submitted on the correct form, or if some of the information is missing or illegible, it will be rejected. It is important to make sure all the claims you want to make are included. If a claim, say disability discrimination or unlawful deduction of wages, is not included, it will not be part of the claim and adding it later will be very difficult.
The Acas Early Conciliation (EC) Certificate reference number must be recorded on the Form ET1. No tribunal claim can be made without this number. All the digits must be correctly recorded, or the ET1 Claim Form will be rejected (Sterling v United Learning Trust [2015] UKEAT 0439/14/DM).
In England, there is an ET public inquiry telephone number: 0300 123 1024 which can be used for copies of Form ET1 in alternative formats, such as large print or Braille. There is also a “talk through” service for people who cannot use a computer without help, available Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm. The telephone number for general enquiries in Scotland is 0300 790 6234.
When an application is submitted online, an automated email acknowledgement is generated immediately. This has the benefit of leaving no room for argument as to whether a claim was issued in time. Making a claim online also makes it easier to ensure nothing essential is omitted. Faxed and emailed claim forms are not allowed.
An ET1 Claim Form submitted by post should be sent to the Employment Tribunal Central Office (England and Wales) PO Box 10218, Leicester LE1 8EG, or in Scotland to the Employment Tribunals Central Office (Scotland) PO Box 27105 Glasgow G2 9JR, using a tracked postal method. Plenty of time should be allowed as deadlines are very strict and rigidly enforced.
Two or more claimants can use the same claim form, but only if their claims are “based on the same set of facts” (rule 9, Employment Tribunal Rules 2013).
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/make-a-claim-to-an-employment-tribunal-form-et1