During the hearing, you will be given the chance to question the other side’s witnesses and they will be able to question you and any other witnesses you have. The point of this is to highlight contradictions or inconsistencies, clarify facts, and enable you to strengthen your case.

Looking back at the evidence and key points or inconsistencies you highlighted, prepare a list of questions for each witness. Ask the most important questions first. Avoid including anything that isn’t relevant – it will just waste time and may mean you don’t get to ask everything you want to.

Use questions that prompt or encourage the answer that you want, so that people say what you expect them to say. For example, “Isn’t it true that….” Or “You agree that…”. The Judge will stop you if your questions are inappropriate and can help you reframe them to make them acceptable in a tribunal.

Pay attention to their responses and look for things in them that support your case. Be ready to use follow up questions.

Avoid using legal jargon as you might not use it correctly – stick with words you know. Remain calm and polite whatever happens.

You need to prepare for being cross-examined too. Think about what you want to tell the tribunal. Look for things that might seem not to support your version of events and think about how you could avoid those issues. Think also about how you would answer questions about them. You will not be allowed to have any notes with you on the witness stand, but it will be helpful to have made notes and look at them before the hearing begins. You will only be able to have your witness statement and the bundle with you and they cannot be marked up or added to in any way.

When you are cross examining or being cross examined:

• Be prepared for it to be stressful and upsetting – most people don’t find it a comfortable experience to stand up in front of other people and have their version of events challenged.
• Try to speak slowly and clearly
• Stay calm and polite

It is the Judge’s job to make sure the hearing ends on time, so they may cut short your time for questioning or explaining. Get to the most important points quickly.

At the end of the hearing, you will usually be asked if you would like to say anything more (this is often called a ‘closing submission)’. It is best to prepare this before the day, but be prepared to change it if different things came out in the evidence than you expected. If you can, plan a few things to say that recap why you think the Tribunal should agree with you, and draw their attention to the evidence that supports your case.

You don’t have to give a closing submission. Instead you can say that you would prefer to answer any questions members of the tribunal have.

If your employer didn’t follow the court orders, didn’t really have a defence, or didn’t share evidence with you as they should have, you can ask the court for either a preparation time order (if you represented yourself) or a costs order (if you had someone to represent you at the hearing). This is to compensate you for the money or time you spent preparing for the hearing.

If you are thinking of doing this keep a record of the hours you spent preparing as you can be paid £41 an hour for it (in 2024, this amount goes up every year). You should also warn your employer that you will ask for this before the hearing. You then need to ask the tribunal at the hearing or within 28 days, detailing the hours spent and what your employer did that was unreasonable.

Your employer has to have done something wrong for the court to consider ordering them to pay your costs.

The tribunal is like a court. If your hearing is in person, it will probably be in a room laid out with the judge or panel behind a slightly raised desk. You will usually wait in a different waiting room from your employer.

If it is a video hearing, HMCTS have a helpful video about video hearings.

Normally, the judge will tell you the decision at the end of the hearing. They will also tell you the reasons for that decision. If you lose, it is useful to ask for the reasons in writing so that you understand why they made that decision. You can ask for them immediately at the end of the hearing, or by contacting the tribunal office that gave the judgment within 14 days. If longer has passed you can still ask – just explain why you couldn’t ask earlier. Usually the reasons are sent out within 28 days, but it can take much longer.

Sometimes, usually in more complex cases, they won’t give you the judgment immediately. They call this ‘reserving the judgement’. It just means they need a little longer to think about the decision and will then send it to you in writing, usually within 28 days (but it can be longer).  

Hearings are not always recorded, but where they are you can request a transcript. You do have to pay a substantial fee for this though.

Sometimes you may be told if you have won and why, but not the amount of money you have won. When this happens, you will need a further hearing to decide the level of compensation. If this will happen to you, you will have been told before the hearing.

You should normally be paid the compensation you won within 14 days of the judgment. After that time, if they haven’t paid up, interest is added to the amount at 8%. You will be provided with information by the Tribunal about how to ensure you get the compensation. The Tribunal does not get involved in this.

If they don’t pay you (whether you won your case or agreed through conciliation with Acas), you can use the free government run Employment Tribunal Penalty Enforcement and Naming scheme. Just download and complete the form and email it to the address on GOV.UK. They will then get a letter warning them that they have 28 days to pay or they will receive an additional fine.

 If they still don’t pay, you will have to go to court to ask for a court order that they pay up. You can find out more about this ‘Fast Track’ enforcement process on GOV.UK.

If your employer has not paid you and has become insolvent, there are some elements you can claim from the government insolvency service. See if you can apply for them to pay you.

If you do get paid, and get any means-tested benefit (usually Universal Credit) remember to inform the relevant departments of DWP about your Tribunal award to make sure you do not end up being paid too much. If you got any means-tested benefit after losing your job, your employer will usually have to repay this amount directly to the government, before paying you the rest of the compensation awarded.

If you do not agree with the Tribunal’s decision, you can apply in writing for a ‘reconsideration’, or you can appeal an employment tribunal decision.

It would be reasonable to apply for a reconsideration where, for example, you think that there was a calculation error in the amount of the award, or where there was some procedural mistake, such as missing evidence. An application should be made within 14 days of the judgment of the judgement being sent and must explain why the reconsideration is necessary.

You can only appeal an employment tribunal decision if the tribunal has misinterpreted the law itself, not just because you think it was ‘unfair’. If you want to appeal you must get the written reasons for the judgment, and appeal within 42 days of these being issued. See GOV.UK for details of how to appeal. You really should get legal advice before you do this.

Disclaimer

The law is complicated. We recommend you try to get advice from the sources we have suggested.

The cases we refer to are not always real but show a typical situation. We have included them to help you think about how to deal with your own situation.

Acknowledgements

Advicenow is grateful to the Ministry of Justice for funding the creation of this guide under the Online Support and Advice Grant.

Advicenow would like to thank everyone who provided advice and feedback on this guide, particularly Chris Lake, Rebecca Thomas of 42BR Barristers, and editorial teams at Thomson Reuters who kindly peer reviewed it.