Successfully Defending Employment Tribunal Cases

Thorogood Publishing, February 2005, Pages: 154

As the legislation and Statutory Instruments governing the Employment Tribunal System are constantly introduced and amended, the need for HR and In-House professionals to stay up to date has never been more crucial.

The Tribunals Service figures show that from the year 1st April 2009 to 31st March 2010, there were 236,100 Employment Tribunal claims lodged, up 56% on the previous year. This just further highlights the importance for the organisations to have clear and effective employment tribunal practice in place.

This indispensable Report covers all of the employment law changes and their implications for HR professionals, as well as providing guidance on how to have an effective and efficient employment tribunal case practice.

This report will:

- Provide you with up-to-date and practical Employment Tribunal legislation guidance
- Enhance your knowledge in a clear, effectively structured manner
- Fully update you to take account of all the Dispute Resolution elements of the Employment Act 2002
- Enhance your expertise of how to succeed in Employment Tribunal case
- Enable you to defend the claim yourself with confidence
- Covers every aspect of the Employment Tribunal process

Who will benefit from this Report:

- HR and Personnel Managers and Directors
- In-House Lawyers
- Private Practice Lawyers and Advisers
- Employment Specialists

1. Employment Tribunals – their function and purpose
- The court hierarchy
- Composition of Employment Tribunals
- Chairmen of Employment Tribunals
- Lay members
- Chairmen only tribunal hearings
- Chairman and one member tribunals
- Tribunal rules, regulations and procedures

2. Types of claim brought before the Employment Tribunal
- Reasons for a claim
- Constructive dismissal
- Redundancy
- Trade union matters
- Health and safety
- Transfers of undertakings
- Maternity and paternity rights
- Sex discrimination
- Sexual harassment
- Equal pay
- Racial discrimination
- Disability discrimination

3. Tribunal jurisdiction
- Jurisdictional limits
- Challenging jurisdiction
- Preliminary hearings
- Case management

4. The originating application
- Commencement of a claim
- Reviewing the originating application (ET1)
- Responding to the claim (ET3)
- Pleading ‘in the alternative’
- Consequences of not entering a notice of appearance (ET3)
- Risk of default judgements
- Amending the ET3

5. Preparing the case
- The initial assessment
- Further and better particulars and discovery of documents
- Further assessment
- Witnesses
- Developing the chronology
- Deciding strategy and tactics

6. Negotiating settlements and dealing with ACAS
- The role of ACAS
- COT3 wording
- Compromise agreements
- Withdrawals
- ACAS arbitration
- Preparing for the arbitration hearing
- The hearing
- Making awards where appropriate

7. Interlocutory orders, hearings and previews
- Preliminary hearings
- Pre-hearing reviews
- Directions
- Further and better particulars
- Discovery and inspection of documents
- Witness orders
- Striking out

8. Preparing for the hearing
- The first steps
- Preparing witnesses and witness statements
- Documentary evidence
- Written evidence and the ‘bundle’
- Researching legal precedents

9. The hearing
- Preliminary matters
- Opening statements
- Calling witnesses and evidence in chief
- Cross-examination
- Re-examination
- The closing address
- General hints

10. The decision
- Costs
- Reviewing the decision
- Remedy hearings

11. Appeals

12. Conclusion

13. Summary of changes introduced by the employment Act 2002
- Commencement of a claim
- Default judgments
- Case management
- ACAS conciliation
- Directions hearings
- Costs

Appendix 1: Calculating awards
Appendix 2: Useful addresses

Dennis Hunt has spent over 25 years acting for employers of businesses of all sizes at tribunals across the UK, as well as sitting as an employer’s representative at Employment Tribunals. He has drawn from his vast experience of fighting cases of all types and advising managers on how to handle their own cases to write this report. His advice is expert, practical and non-legalistic.

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