If you have decided to take your claim to tribunal, and you have your early conciliation certificate from Acas (see Before you can start a claim at employment tribunal), you need to start your case before the time limit runs out.
This is part a series of guides
We have written them because we want to support you to work out if you can or should take your case to the employment tribunal, and to help you to do it well - even if you cannot find legal help. Read all the guides in the series.
You can do that online on GOV.UK or using the form ET1 (also on GOV.UK) which you can fill in online but then needs to be printed and posted.
If you are OK with online, we would suggest you use that sy
stem. It is quicker so it is easier not to miss the time limits, and it is also been designed for people to use without lawyers. The guidance in this section will help you.
Your case is only started when you press the ‘submit’ button and get the ‘your claim has been submitted’ confirmation screen.If you want to use the ET1 form, check out the guidance from Citizens Advice.
This guide covers the law and process in England and Wales. The process is slightly different in both Scotland and Northern Ireland. Find out more about the process in Scotland from Citizens Advice. Find out more about the process in Northern Ireland on Industrial Tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal. (This information about Northern Irish process is very brief so read these guides for more help on how to do things like value a claim, negotiate, etc). |
September 2024
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Don’t delay starting your claim on the system - the longer you have to complete the form, the less stressful it will be. You need to submit the claim before the time limit, not start it. If there is a problem and your claim is rejected, you want to have time to correct it and try again.
The first few screens just help you set up your account so you can save your progress and come back when you are ready, or ask for basic details about you like your name and contact details and preferences.
There is a check your claim screen before you submit, so that you can go back and change anything you need to before you start the case.There are also some questions marked ‘optional’ – you can either complete these now or after you submit your claim when the court orders you to do so, usually soon after you have submitted your claim.
You are asked if you would be able to take part in hearings by video or phone. If you are OK with online and have access to Wi-Fi it might be a good idea to say yes, as you may get a hearing more quickly. We think video hearings are easier to follow than phone hearings but you will have to have a good internet connection and they are definitely easier on a computer, rather than your phone. HMCTS have a helpful video about video hearings.
You are also asked if you have a disability which means you will need extra support during your case. If you do have a disability, be sure to think through what help you might need – will you need documents in a different format, a hearing loop or sign language interpreter, or the hearing to be held in a wheelchair accessible space? Will you need extra breaks or shorter days?
If it is a group claim, you need to supply all the details of those who want to be make the claim. Remember they must have clearly agreed to be added to the claim.
Take care when entering your early conciliation certificate number – putting it in incorrectly is one of the most common reasons claims are rejected.
The first potentially tricky question you come to is the name of the person, organisation or company you are bringing the claim against. This should be exactly the same as the name on the early reconciliation certificate. See our advice about who to take the case against.
If you have been discriminated against, and want to bring the case against the individuals responsible as well as your employer (the organisation you work for), you add their details on the next screen.
On the employment details screen, be careful to put down the correct dates you were employed by the organisation as you only have certain rights if you have been employed for more than two years[mm2] . If your organisation was taken over by another while you worked there (or you were TUPE’d to another organisation), put the date you started at the first organisation as the date you started work.
If your case is about unfair dismissal, you just need to provide the details of how much notice you were given (or how much notice pay you were given if you were not allowed to work) and the system will calculate if that is fair or if you are owed additional wages.
Check your payslips to find details of your pay before tax and after tax. If your earnings vary, provide the average for the last 12 weeks.
There is an extra box to include any benefits like pension, medical insurance, or a company car.
If you have a new job you can provide details here.
On the Claim type screen you need to select the legal issues your claim is about. You can select multiple boxes – for example your claim might be about unfair dismissal, redundancy pay, and notice pay. Make sure you tick all that apply, it is very hard to add one later.
If you cannot see anything that fits your problem, select the other type of claim box and explain the issue. Other types of claim might be, for example, that your employer didn’t give you an employment contract or didn’t give you the right rest breaks.
Your case could be rejected if no sensible claim can be understood from the tick boxes and what you have written.
If your claim is about discrimination, you will be asked on the next screen what type of discrimination your claim is about. If you believe you were discriminated against on the basis of more than one protected characteristic (for example, that you are disabled and a woman), tick all the boxes that apply.
Similarly, if your claim is about underpaid wages, you will be asked what pay your claim is about (for example, holiday pay or redundancy pay). Again, tick more than one if you need to.
Write it on a doc firstIt is best to write your answers to the more complicated questions below on a separate document on your computer or phone and then copy and paste them on to the form when you are ready.
This will avoid you losing any work if there is a problem with your internet connection or if the system times you out. It will also encourage you to take more time over these answers and check that they include everything they need to. If possible, get a friend to read it over for you to help ensure it says what you need it to say.
You can also upload your document to the system as a Rich Text Format (RTF) file – this will help you get around any issue with the maximum character count. (Some of these boxes allow a maximum of 2500 characters). You can only upload one document.
If your explanation is quite lengthy, it is a good idea to number your paragraphs as then it will be easier to refer to specific parts of your complaint.
Your answer on the Describe your claim screen needs to explain carefully what your complaint is about.
Briefly explain what was done, the names of the people who did it, and the date it happened. Mention everything that you want to form part of your claim - you cannot add other facts later.
If your complaint is about unfair dismissal
● Briefly explain why you think your employment was ended unfairly.
● Were you told why you were being “let go”? If you did not believe this, why not? Did they provide evidence of any wrong-doing on your part? If they said they were sacking you because you weren’t good enough at your job, do you have records of appraisals or supervisions that show the opposite?
● If you were treated so badly that you could not continue with your job (what the law calls ‘constructive dismissal’), explain what happened. Explain why that made it impossible for you to continue in your role.
● If your employer did not follow the proper procedure, explain that and explain what they did do.
● Explain the business of the employer and how big they are – bigger companies have less excuse for not following procedure properly as they have more administrative resources.
If your complaint is about underpaid wages
● Explain what you think would have been the correct amount to have been paid and on what date(s).
● Explain how you worked that out
● Explain what money (if any) you were paid.
● If your employer has given you an explanation of why they haven’t paid the amount you believe you are entitled to, explain that, and why you believe they are wrong.
If you are complaining about discrimination
● Briefly explain every key event.
● Explain why what happened to you was discriminatory.
● Include which type of discrimination you think you suffered (for example, if you were discriminated again on the basis of your sex, or disability). If you think you were discriminated against on the basis of more than one protected characteristic, explain that (for example, if you were discriminated against because of your race and disability).
● Include the dates, places and names of the people involved.
● If there were witnesses, name them.
● If they used discriminatory language and you can remember the exact words used, include them. If you cannot, say that they ‘used words to the effect of….’.
● Explain briefly the impact the discrimination had on you.
● If it was repeated behaviour, include each event and put them in the order that they happened.
Whatever your claim is about, make sure you include all the relevant things that happened, even ones that hurt your case. If they only come out at the hearing you could be asked to pay your employer’s legal costs (the amount they have had to pay a solicitor to help them deal respond to this case), which could be a lot of money.
Your case could be rejected if no sensible claim can be understood from the tick boxes and what you have written.
On the Claim outcome screen you need to say what outcome you want. For most people the sensible hoped-for outcome is compensation (money). You can include the amount of money you are requesting now, or you can provide it later when the Tribunal asks (usually soon after you submit your claim). See our advice on how to create a schedule of loss for an employment tribunal.
If your case is about unfair dismissal, you can ask the Tribunal to order that you get either your old job back or another job with the same employer. It is important to understand that the Tribunal can order this, but only does so rarely, particularly where the relationship between you has broken down. The tribunal can’t actually force the employer to follow the order. However, if the employer doesn’t follow the order, the Tribunal can award you more money.
If your case is about discrimination, you can also request the Tribunal recommend the employer do something or change something in the way they work so that other people aren’t discriminated against in the way you were. Again, the Tribunal can make a recommendation, but they can’t actually force the employer to follow the recommendation. However, if the employer doesn’t follow the recommendation, the Tribunal can award you more money.
On the Other Important details screen include anything that you think is important that you haven’t found a place to tell them. If you have already covered everything, you can leave this blank.
When you are ready and have checked your answers, you can submit your claim. You need to press submit the claim before the time limit has passed.
If your claim is rejected for any reason, and the time limit has not yet passed, you can just correct the problems and resubmit it.
If the deadline has passed you can ask for the tribunal’s permission to resubmit. You do that using the online service to apply to have a decision considered afresh. You need to do this within 14 days of the date on the rejection notice you were sent.
The information in this guide applies to England and Wales.
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.
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.
Please tell us about your problem. Knowing more about our users and what you found useful helps us get funding to keep our website going. We also want to hear if there is anything you didn’t like or couldn’t find so that we can be even more useful. It is OK to skip questions – but please press ‘submit’ at the end as otherwise we don’t get your response.
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