Tribunal fees



All employment tribunal claims carry a mandatory fee. A few low-paid claimants qualify for fee remission, now called “Help with fees” (i.e. full or partial reduction of the fee) – see page 493.


As of January 2017, there are no fees for claims against the secretary of state that relate solely to unpaid wages and statutory redundancy from the National Insurance Fund where an employer is insolvent – see Chapter 11, page 444). If any additional complaints are included, a fee must be paid. This is the only type of claim that is exempt from the requirement to pay a fee.


There is an issue fee when the tribunal claim is presented, followed by a hearing fee which must be paid shortly before the main hearing. Only the claimant pays these fees — not the employer. There are also fees for any appeal.



Where a claim is rejected because of a failure to pay the correct fee or to make a valid application for remission, time will continue to run. Any new claim must be submitted within the original time limit or it is likely to be dismissed. 



There are no refunds, even if a case settles immediately.


When submitting an ET claim online, the fee can be paid online by following the link on the Gov.uk webpage: https://www.gov.uk/employment-tribunals/when-you-can-claim. The claimant will be given a payment reference by the Employment Tribunal or Employment Appeal Tribunal Office. 



Alternatively, tribunal fees can be paid by cheque or postal order payable to HM Courts & Tribunals Service and posted, together with Claim Form ET1 (see page 496), to the Employment Tribunal Central Office (or in Scotland, to the Employment Tribunal Central Office Scotland). Fees cannot be paid in cash. 



There are two levels of claim when calculating tribunal fees, called “Type A” claims and “Type B” claims. 



Type A Claims: these include claims for unauthorised deduction from wages, notice pay, redundancy pay, written pay statement, holiday pay, paid time off to attend ante-natal appointments or to exercise the statutory right to be accompanied. These claims have an issue fee of £160 and a hearing fee of £230. 



Type B Claims: these include claims for unfair dismissal, discrimination and whistleblowing and have an issue fee of £250 and a hearing fee of £950.



The amount of the fee is fixed. The same amount must be paid even if the value of the claim is equal to, or less than, the value of the fee, as is likely to be the case for many claims such as for holiday pay, time off for antenatal appointments and many wage claims.


Where a Claim Form includes two types of claim, for example, a claim for unfair dismissal and unlawful deduction of wages, only one fee, at the higher level, must be paid.



Where there is more than one respondent, for example, a discrimination claim against an employer and a co-worker, only one fee must be paid. 



There are special rules for multiple claims:



• between 2-10 claimants, the fee is twice the fee for single claims;



• for 11-200 claims, the fee is four times the fee for single claims; and



• for 201+ claimants, the fee is six times the fee for single claims. 



There is also a fee for Judicial Mediation: £600 paid by the employer.