Glossary · UK
What is Employment Tribunal?
The specialist court in England, Wales and Scotland that hears workplace disputes such as unfair dismissal, discrimination and unpaid wages claims, usually after ACAS Early Conciliation.
Full Definition
An employment tribunal is a specialist judicial body that hears and decides workplace disputes between employees (or workers) and employers, covering claims such as unfair and wrongful dismissal, discrimination, unlawful deduction of wages, unpaid holiday pay, redundancy pay disputes and whistleblowing detriment. Tribunals sit separately from the ordinary civil courts, use a somewhat less formal procedure, and for most claim types do not require the claimant to pay an issue fee (fees were abolished in 2017 after a successful legal challenge). Before lodging most types of claim, a prospective claimant must first notify ACAS and go through Early Conciliation, which gives both sides a chance to settle without a hearing; only once that process ends (with or without settlement) does the strict time limit to lodge a claim -- normally three months less one day from the relevant event, extended to reflect time spent in conciliation -- start running in earnest. A tribunal claim is heard by an Employment Judge sitting alone, or in some discrimination and dismissal cases by a panel of three (a judge plus two lay members with employer and employee-side experience), and can result in remedies including reinstatement or re-engagement, a basic award, a compensatory award for financial loss, and in some cases additional awards such as an uplift for failing to follow the ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures. Appeals from an employment tribunal go to the Employment Appeal Tribunal, and then, in limited circumstances, to the higher courts.