Employment Tribunal Claims: as an employee
This guide is intended to assist employees as to the likely legal costs that will be incurred when making a claim in the employment tribunal, be it a claim for:
- Unfair Dismissal;
- Constructive Unfair Dismissal;
- Wrongful Dismissal;
- Discrimination; or
- A mixture of the above.
Our fees for acting for you as an employee in a tribunal case will be in the region of £5,000-£15,000 plus Vat and disbursements.
The fee estimate above covers the following stages of an ET claim:
- Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on the merits of your case and likely compensation to be awarded (this will be under constant review throughout the case).
- Entering into the mandatory pre-action conciliation with ACAS to explore whether a settlement can be reached without the need for litigation.
- Preparing and drafting the claim form and particulars of claim in Form ET1.
- Advising on the response to the claim on Form ET3, filed by the Defendant.
- Preparing and drafting the Schedule of Loss.
- Preparing for a preliminary hearing (if applicable)
- Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing the bundle of documents
- Preparing the necessary witness statements. (This step includes taking instructions from the witnesses, drafting the document and finalising the same with the witness.)
- Reviewing and advising on the Defendant’s witness statements.
- Agreeing the index for the final hearing bundle.
- Agreeing to the list of issues
- Agreeing a chronology (if necessary)
- Preparation and attendance at the final hearing.
There will also be disbursements (third party payments) on top of our fees. In most cases, counsel will be instructed to attend the hearing on your behalf and their fees will depend on the experience of the advocate. I would estimate that these fees will be in the region of £3,000 to £5,000 plus Vat for one day plus any trial preparation and any disbursements.
Factors affecting the estimate:
It is difficult to provide an accurate estimate for costs for proceedings such as these as there are numerous factors that will affect the estimate. These can include:
- Whether the claim includes multiple elements e.g. a claim for unfair dismissal claim plus discrimination.
- Whether the claim is being defended by a litigant-in-person
- Whether there are complex preliminary issues that need to be decided e.g. if the Defendant disputes you are an employee.
- The number of witnesses and the amount of documentation required to be reviewed.
- Whether the claim is an automatic unfair dismissal claim.
Timescales
The time that it takes from taking your initial instruction to the final resolution depending on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached at Stage 2, after you have filed your respective arguments, then your case may only take 8-12 weeks. If you claim proceeds to a final hearing, it is likely to take 6-12 months. However, it really will depend upon each individual case and which Employment Tribunal is being used and the length of the hearing. We will be able to provide a more accurate timescale as the case progresses.