Paying the tribunal fee or applying for fee remission

Since 29 July 2013, all claims in the employment tribunal carry a fee. A few low-paid claimants may qualify for fee remission (i.e. reduction or waiver of the fee — see below). There are two fees, an issue fee when the claim is presented and a hearing fee, payable shortly before the hearing if the case has not settled.

A claim submitted without the correct fee or a completed application for fee remission will be rejected. Even so, the time limit for the claim will continue to run and the claim must be resubmitted within that original time limit.

Claims are treated as presented in time if they are accompanied by a completed application for remission with supporting evidence of means (see below), even if the application is dealt with later, and even if the claimant is found not to qualify for remission.

Fees are paid by claimants only, not employers — a feature that was opposed by two-thirds of the respondents to the government consultation. No claims are exempt, even those that are equal to, or less than, the value of the fee. There are no refunds, even if a case settles immediately. The structure of fees is expected to act as a significant bar to settlement because of the built-in incentive to employers to hold off settling the claim until the last moment, to see whether the worker pays the fee.

The fee can be paid online when making the claim online to the following address: https://www.employmenttribunals.service.gov.uk/employment-tribunals

Only debit and credit cards can be used to pay online. Alternatively, it can be paid by cheque or postal order payable to HM Courts & Tribunals Service, and posted together with Claim form ET1 (see below) to the Employment Tribunal Central Office. It cannot be paid in cash.

There are two levels of claim for the purposes of tribunal fees: 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 (2014-15).

Type B Claims: these include claims such as unfair dismissal, discrimination and whistleblowing and have an issue fee of £250 and a hearing fee of £950 (2014-15).

Where a claim form includes two separate 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 the employer and an individual harasser, only one fee must be paid.

There are special rules for multiple claims:

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

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

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

There is also a fee for Judicial Mediation (£600), payable by the employer.