Postponement requests 




Tribunals are very resistant to postponement requests once a hearing date has been fixed, even by genuinely ill claimants. In Riley v The CPS [2013] EWCA Civ 951, the Court of Appeal said that the human right to have a fair trial within a reasonable time is available not just to the claimant but also to the employer and to others waiting in the queue for their cases to be heard. 


Where a postponement request is unavoidable, a claimant should write to the tribunal with supporting evidence, explaining why a postponement is needed and for how long. Requests on medical grounds should be supported by medical evidence such as a letter from a consultant or GP explaining clearly that the claimant is too unwell to attend the hearing and indicating when they are likely to be well enough. A GP certificate signing the claimant off work is not good enough. 




A maximum of two postponement requests are allowed, with a third only granted in exceptional circumstances. Any request made less than seven days before the hearing, or at the hearing itself, can only be granted in exceptional circumstances. The tribunal must consider ordering the party requesting the adjournment to compensate their opponent for any extra costs, such as barristers’ fees.