Understanding Employment Tribunals : What Employers and Employees Need to Know

How much are employment tribunal costs?

Under current rules, employees do not have to pay a fee to file an employment tribunal claim, but they do risk being liable for their employer’s cost if they lose; although this is generally a rare occurrence with costs typically only awarded in exceptional circumstances, such as when a claim is found to be vexatious, malicious, or otherwise unreasonable. Costs awards in employment tribunals are not automatic and are at the tribunal’s discretion.

Examples of where this may occur are:

• employee’s case had no chance of success.
• employee behaved very badly in the way they dealt with their case. 
• employee turned down a good offer to settle.

There is no limit to how much you could be asked to pay if you lose and the Tribunal usually request the awarded party to evidence costs incurred. You can avoid having to pay costs if you take the following steps.  

Make sure you have a reasonable claim.

You must have good reasons for making your claim. Check your claim satisfies the legal tests and that you have evidence to support it. 

Make sure you disclose all the facts.

Don't hold back any information about your claim which could affect its outcome. If this only comes out at the hearing, the judge might order you to pay costs.

Behave reasonably.

The judge might ask you to do certain things before the hearing, such as gather evidence or disclose certain documents. These requests are known as ‘directions’ and will be in documents called ‘orders.’ If you do not do what the tribunal has asked, you might be ordered to pay costs.

Attend the tribunal hearing.

If you do not turn up to the tribunal hearing, the judge might make a judgment anyway and could order you to pay costs.

If you cannot be at the hearing, make sure you tell the tribunal and your employer as early as possible. You’ll need to have a good reason for not attending - for example, if an illness or injury made it impossible for you to attend. 

Give notice before you withdraw a case.

If you decide you want to drop the case and withdraw your claim, try to give as much notice as possible. If you withdraw at the last minute, you might have to pay costs.

More detail about employment tribunals:

David Lammy, Lord Chancellor has confirmed that to bring an employment case, it will remain free. He believes that no matter their income, everyone should be able to get access to justice to challenge unfair behaviour at work. His statement was supported by Paul Nowak as he stated that ‘No one should ever be priced out of enforcing their rights at work.’