A lot of people represent themselves at employment tribunal and the process is designed to make this possible as you cannot usually get help for free, and you can only get Legal Aid in some very rare discrimination cases (and your household monthly income must be less than £2567 before tax).
This is part a series of guides
We have written them because we understand how being treated unfairly at work can impact your whole life, even how you see yourself. 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 an adviser to help you, and cannot afford to pay for help. We suggest you read all of the guides in the series.
There are two charities that connect people with lawyers and barristers who can represent them for free – the Free Representation Unit and Advocate. See Help for people going to an employment tribunal for more details. Both usually have more people that need help than they can help so don’t pin too much hope on being successful. Support Through Court can also help you to represent yourself more confidently by helping with practical support and helping you prepare your case – they can also refer you to the charities that help with representation.
Begin to prepare your case as soon as you can as this will reduce your stress.
Go through all the evidence in the bundle. Make a note of any key points or inconsistencies that could help your case or harm it. Do this on a separate document or a copy – you must have a copy of the bundle that is unmarked for the hearing.
You will need these to prepare your questions for the witnesses (both for your side, and your employer’s). You should also think about how you would answer questions they might ask about any issues that harm your case.
Watch a hearing
If it is possible, it might be really helpful to watch someone else’s hearing. They are usually open to the public and it will give you a good idea of how things work so that you can feel more prepared for your own. The best thing is usually to contact your nearest tribunal and ask if there are any you could observe soon. You can observe via video or you could go in person. It will be most helpful to watch a hearing about a case that is similar to your own, for example that is also about unpaid wages or discrimination or the issue your case is about.
Can you delay the hearing?
In person or online?
Your hearing might be online or in person. If it is online, familiarise yourself with what will happen. HMCTS have a helpful video. Make sure you have tested how you will join the hearing before the day. If it is in person, Citizens Advice have some helpful information about when to arrive and what to expect.
It is best to be prepared because you cannot usually postpone the hearing and if you do so unnecessarily, you might be asked to pay some of your employers’ legal costs which could be a lot of money. If it is at an inconvenient time, you should make whatever arrangements you need to in order to go to the hearing.
If there is a very good reason to postpone, email the tribunal and your employer as soon as possible to make the request. Good reasons to ask for a delay might be that you or a crucial witness is ill or you have been given an online hearing and you need it to be in-person. Say when you will be ready for the hearing.
If you ask less than seven days before the hearing, they are not likely to agree, unless it is due to sickness you could not have known about earlier. If this happens, try to get medical evidence that says that you are sick and (ideally) not well enough to give evidence in a Tribunal. If possible, it is helpful if this evidence suggests when you will likely be better. If you cannot get evidence before you ask for the delay, try and get some afterwards. If it is clear that you were genuinely sick, the other side is unlikely to ask you to pay any legal costs.
If you don’t want to go ahead with the Employment Tribunal hearing
If you want to stop the case, or just a part of it, that is called ‘withdrawing your claim’. Preparing for the hearing and representing yourself is stressful and some people find that they panic a bit as it gets closer. If you are in this situation, see if you can get advice or get in touch with Support Through Court for some support.
Remember, if you are disabled or have a health condition you can ask for reasonable adjustments for health conditions – for example, extra breaks or extra short days. If you did not ask for this when you started the case, get in touch with the tribunal and request it now.
If you find you don’t want to go through with it, it would be better to try to negotiate a settlement with your employer. In return for you dropping the case they may well agree to pay you some of the money you had hoped to win, or give you a reference and agree not to ask you to pay their legal costs (they have probably paid a solicitor to help them deal with your claim). Getting them to agree not ask the Tribunal to make you pay for their legal costs is probably the most important thing. See our advice on negotiating a settlement agreement with your employer.
To end the case, or any part of it, you email the tribunal and send your employer a copy. It is sensible to do this as soon as possible as that minimises the unnecessary costs and effort for everyone. You can’t change your mind after the Tribunal has made an order to dismiss the case so think about it carefully.
Avoid doing this at the last minute as that would make it more likely that the court would order you to pay some of your employer’s legal costs (unless your employer has agreed not to ask for this).
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 decide if you really want to go to employment tribunal, how to value your claim, how to negotiate a settlement, and how to do a witness statement). |
September 2024
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