This Practice Note outlines the grounds for recusal (ie removal) of the employment tribunal panel or of individual tribunal members, the concept of bias, and the implications of improper conduct and procedural irregularity on the fairness of proceedings. On occasion, one or more parties may become unhappy with the tribunal that is hearing the case, or an individual member of that tribunal. This may be, for example, because a member of the tribunal is related to, or a friend of, one of the parties or one of the witnesses, or it is known that a tribunal member has a significant shareholding in the respondent company, and it therefore seems inappropriate for that member to try the case. Dissatisfaction with a tribunal may also arise by virtue of the way in which a party perceives a tribunal to be handling the case. That party may form the view that the tribunal is repeatedly behaving in a biased manner towards it, eg by ruling against it on a series of points that arise

FORTHCOMING CHANGES: In measures expected to come into force on 1 October 2026, time limits for making certain claims in employment tribunals in Great Britain (and, in certain cases, industrial tribunals in Northern Ireland) will be increased from three months to six months. The changes are set out in section 152 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025) and ERA 2025, Schedule 12 (not yet in force), and in The Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction (England and Wales) (Amendment) Order 2026 (draft), The Employment Tribunal (Extension of Time Limits) (Miscellaneous Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2026 (draft) and The Employee Study and Training (Procedural Requirements) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, SI 2026/473. This Practice Note will be updated as soon as the relevant statutory instruments are made. For more information, see Practice Note: Employment Rights Act 2025—tracker. The overriding objective At the heart of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure (ET Rules) is the 'overriding objective'. The overriding objective of the ET Rules is to enable employment tribunals (ET) to deal with cases fairly and

Employment tribunal claims are proceedings brought by workers, employees or, in some cases, job applicants against employers to resolve workplace disputes, usually after internal procedures and Acas-style conciliation have been attempted. They commonly concern unfair or wrongful dismissal, discrimination, harassment, victimisation, whistleblowing, unlawful deductions from wages, redundancy payments and working time or holiday pay disputes. In Great Britain, such claims are issued in the Employment Tribunal under the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 and related legislation; in Northern Ireland they are brought in the Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal under the Industrial Tribunals (NI) Order 1996 and fair employment legislation. In Ireland, analogous claims are made to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) and, on appeal, the Labour Court. Employment tribunal claims are subject to strict limitation periods (typically three months less one day from the act complained of, with some scope for extension) and prescribed rules on early conciliation, pleadings, disclosure and remedies. Outcomes can include compensation, declarations, recommendations, reinstatement or re-engagement, with costs awards being comparatively rare but possible where a party has acted unreasonably or vexatiously.

This Practice Note contains links to the Harvey Quantum awards and recommendations database on employment tribunal awards and recommendations. The database covers injury to feelings awards for all strands of discrimination, personal injury, aggravated damages, exemplary damages, uplift (for failure to comply with the Acas Code) and recommendations. The purpose of the database is to give practitioners an idea of the type of factors and circumstances that result in tribunals and courts making particular awards and recommendations in employment discrimination cases. Accordingly it should give practitioners guidance on the level of compensation that they may expect their clients to be awarded (or to negotiate in a settlement) in the particular circumstances of each case. Examples of recommendations and the amounts awarded by employment tribunals and courts in respect of heads of loss in discrimination cases in which a discretion is being exercised are set out in the database. Heads of loss which do not generally involve that discretionary element (other than as to the period of loss), eg loss of earnings, are not covered. The

Employment analysis: All eligible applicants can now apply for a refund of employment tribunal fees paid between 29 July 2013 to 26 July 2017. Applications can be made online or by downloading the applicable form and sending it by email or post to Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). There are three different forms: the first for applicants who paid fees in respect of their own claims, the second for applicants who paid fees in respect of other people’s claims (eg trade unions) and the third for applicants who were ordered by the employment tribunal to pay another party’s fees. If HMCTS agrees that a refund is due the amount will be transferred to the applicant’s bank account plus 0.5% interest.

Employment analysis: The Supreme Court’s recent decision on employment tribunal fees in R (UNISON) v Lord Chancellor is significant not only for employees but for all those denied access to justice, says Mathew Purchase, of Matrix Chambers. The court ruled that tribunal fees unlawfully interfered with the right of access to justice, and constituted indirect discrimination against women.

Law360, London: A London court has overturned an order that required a sacked chief legal officer to hand over documents which allegedly expose her 'sham' redundancy from a cosmetic pharmaceutical company, and noted that the employment tribunal is the correct venue for issues of legal professional privilege and iniquity.

This Practice Note sets out details of the employment tribunal offices in England, Wales and Scotland and their hearing venues. It also explains how to find employment tribunal judgments electronically and how to request hard copy transcripts of judgments, and signposts the minutes from employment tribunal national user group meetings. Employment tribunals are part of His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service, which is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. There are three ways that an employment tribunal claim may be submitted, namely: • online (see Practice Note: Submission of a claim to the employment tribunal—Presenting the claim (Submitting a claim online)) • by post (see Practice Note: Submission of a claim to the employment tribunal—Presenting the claim (Submitting a claim by post)) • by hand delivery, but only to certain 'designated tribunal offices', on certain days (see Practice Note: Submission of a claim to the employment tribunal—Presenting the claim (Hand delivery of a claim)) Following the presentation of the claim, the tribunal must notify the parties of the address

This Practice Note considers equal pay audits, under the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010) provisions providing equality of pay. An equal pay audit is a tool used by employers to identify potential discrimination in the workplace arising from unequal pay for equal work. Some employers choose to carry out equal pay audits on a voluntary basis. The process of carrying out an equal pay audit can enable an employer to: • show its commitment to achieving and promoting equal pay • compare the pay of protected groups who are doing equal work • investigate the cause of any gaps by reference to a protected characteristic (most commonly gender) • identify steps to close any gaps identified that cannot be legally justified • use the findings and action points identified as a risk assessment for pay structures, and • reduce potential equal pay breaches going forward Most employers do, unintentionally, have some gaps in pay that are highlighted by an audit. While many of these might be capable of objective justification, employers may nevertheless

This document provides a full list of the Precedents available in our suite of employment tribunal pleadings. It is structured by topic covered. Some of the pleadings may appear under more than one heading if they are relevant to more than one topic. Unfair dismissal Constructive dismissal • ET1 Claim for unfair dismissal—constructive dismissal • ET3 Response to unfair dismissal claim—constructive dismissal • ET1 Claim—direct sex discrimination, sexual harassment, victimisation and constructive dismissal • ET3 Response—direct sex discrimination, sexual harassment, victimisation and constructive dismissal Conduct • ET1 Claim for unfair dismissal—conduct • ET3 Response to unfair dismissal claim—conduct Redundancy • ET1 Claim for unfair dismissal—redundancy • ET3 Response to unfair dismissal claim—redundancy Performance • ET1 Claim for unfair dismissal—performance capability • ET3 Response to unfair dismissal claim—performance capability Ill-health capability • ET1 Claim for unfair dismissal—ill-health capability • ET3 Response to unfair dismissal claim—ill-health capability • ET1 Claim—disability discrimination (direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, discrimination arising from disability and failure to make reasonable adjustments), harassment, victimisation and unfair dismissal (ill-health capability) • ET3 Response—disability discrimination (direct discrimination, indirect discrimination,

This material considers the UK GDPR regime, and legislative links are to Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2016/679, UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018), except where expressly stated otherwise. It takes account of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA 2025). Note that pages within the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) UK GDPR guidance and resources are being updated to reflect DUAA 2025. During the process of preparing for and dealing with employment tribunal proceedings, employers will need to process, ie collect, organise, use and disclose, information about claimants (whether prospective, current or former employees or workers) and other individuals that will comprise personal data. The employer may also want to process: • special category data (formerly known as sensitive personal data), and • personal data regarding criminal convictions and offences, or related security measures (criminal offence data) For further information on what is meant by: • personal data, see: Personal data—lawful processing conditions below and Practice Note: The UK GDPR and DPA 2018: key data protection issues for

Statistics relating to the employment tribunals for the quarter, October to December 2024 have been recently published by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ). The statistics provide a snapshot of the number and types of cases that have been dealt with in the employment tribunals during Q3 2024/2025. The statistics show that more employees are bringing claims in the tribunal compared to the same period a year ago. This trajectory is expected to continue when the Employment Rights Bill is introduced; in particular if and when the proposals to make unfair dismissal a day one right, and to extend the employment tribunal limitation period for most claims from three to six months are introduced.