Ex-employees and tribunal actions

What is an employment tribunal? For most practical purposes, it can simply be seen as a court specifically set up to deal with employment disputes. If an employee or worker thinks that their employer infringed their rights, they might bring a claim before an employment tribunal.

For example, and this is one of the most common types of claims, you dismiss an employee for misconduct. They disagree. Many employees would just try to lie low and get another job, but some will issue a claim for unfair dismissal, and argue either that your procedure was unfair or that dismissal was outside of the range of reasonable responses to his misconduct.

Another common claim is for discrimination. This may coincide with a claim for unfair dismissal – an employee may claim that anyone else who acted as they did would have been given a warning: but you decided to dismiss them due to their age, gender, race or some other protected characteristic. A current employee may also bring a discrimination claims, however, normally after first airing their complaint with a grievance. That’s why it’s vital you deal with grievances appropriately.

Almost any of the issues that we explain elsewhere in these pages could result in an employment tribunal claim.

If a claim is made against you or your business, you’ll to think about two types of issues: the substantive issues, such as whether dismissal was fair; and procedural – for example, is their claim in time? when is the deadline for a response? how do you compile a hearing bundle and witness statements?

We’ll give two hints here: the employee normally has three months to bring a claim; you normally have 28 days to respond, and the employment tribunal should have stated the deadline in its letter to you. But if you’ve received a claim, then you may wish to speak to our litigation team, which can assist with all of these issues.

Many employment tribunal claims involve former employees, so we have also included here some other documents relating to this – for example, advice as to enforcing restrictive covenants, confidentiality or intellectual property rights.

We recommend using our guides as your starting point and to set helpful context for the way in which the templates and other documents can be used. If you’re ever unsure about how to use any of our materials, just get in touch on the contact details below.

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The content on this website has been prepared by Markel Law LLP and it’s specified partners. It’s intended as guidance only and not to be regarded as a substitute for consultation with one of our solicitors or experts, since every case will ultimately turn on its own particular facts and circumstances. We recommend that you use our materials as your starting point and be aware that you sometimes have to follow a set procedure before taking any action, especially in an employment context. If you are in any doubt, we’d suggest that you get in touch with us and we’ll talk you through your options on how to get the right legal advice.