Employment Tribunal fees consultation

As part of the Government’s reforms into employment regulation it has proposed the introduction of fees for claims to the employment tribunal. If you wish to comment on the proposals Agency Zone has condensed the
consultation into a short survey (which should only take a minute or two
to complete) here.

The Government’s aim is to reduce tribunal litigation by encouraging parties to settle workplace disputes earlier and faster by other means and at the same time recover a proportion of the cost of running the tribunals.

Consequently it is consulting on two alternative tribunal fee charging options. Under both options, claimants unable to pay may be eligible for a full or partial reduction in the fee and the losing party could be ordered to pay the winner’s fees.

Option 1 involves fees payable by the claimant at both issue and hearing stages with the level of fee determined by the type of claim. The proposed issue fees range from £150-£250 and hearing fees from £250-£1,250.

Option 2 involves one fee payable by the claimant at issue stage only. The level of fee is determined by the type of claim with a proposed fee range from £200-£600, but all claims in which compensation above £30,000 is claimed would attract a higher fee of £1,750. Further fees will be due if a party makes a specified application after the claim has been issued.

The level of the fee charged will depend on the nature of the claim itself and the relative cost to HMCTS of hearing the case. The Government has stressed that the introduction of fees for employment tribunal claims is one of a raft of measures under consideration to reduce employment regulation and the consequent burden on business.

Members of the Association of Recruitment Consultancies have been sent a separate survey; if you are an ARC member please complete the ARC version.

The full consultation document is available here.

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