Which Court?

A claim for breach of the employment contract cannot be brought in the employment tribunal unless the employment has ended. While an employee is still employed, any claim for contract breach can only be brought in one of the civil courts. These are the Small Claims Court, County Court or High Court, depending on the value of the claim. For more information about these courts, see the website of the Ministry of Justice.

In addition, there are important statutory rights that can be used to enforce many contract terms in the employment tribunal while still employed. For example:

• a claim for unlawful deduction of wages can be brought in the employment tribunal under section 13 of the ERA 96 to enforce payment obligations such as wages, holiday pay, bonuses and sick pay;

• failure to pay statutory holiday pay will also be a breach of the Working Time Regulations and can be enforced in the employment tribunal; and

• an employment tribunal claim can be also brought under the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 to enforce payment of the National Minimum Wage.

In all these cases, very strict time limits apply. Take urgent advice from your rep. For information on time limits, see LRD’s annual publication Law at Work (www.lrdpublications.org.uk/publications.php?pub=BK&iss=1664).