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APPENDIX 2: IMPORTANT CHANGES TO MAKING EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL CLAIMS
Appendix 2: Important changes
to making Employment Tribunal
claims
Previously, an employee could go
straight to the tribunal service, but
this will change. From 6 April 2014,
if an employee is considering making
an Employment Tribunal claim
against their employer, they should
notify Acas that they intend to submit
a claim.
Details of how and where to do this
are given below.
Acas will, in most circumstances,
offer to assist in settling differences
between employee and employer.
Employers intending to make a
counter-claim against an employee
must follow a similar procedure.
The process for agreeing settlement is
called Early Conciliation. It is handled
by experienced Acas conciliators and
support officers and is:
free of charge
impartial and non-judgmental
confidential
independent of the Employment
Tribunal service
offered in addition to existing
conciliation services.
Early Conciliation focuses on
resolving matters on terms that
employee and employer agree.
Early Conciliation may not resolve
matters in every claim. When this is
the case Acas will issue a certificate
that is now required for a claim to be
submitted to an Employment
Tribunal.
From July 2013, employees have been
required to pay a fee to “lodge” a claim
at the Employment Tribunal, followed
by another fee if the claim progresses
to a tribunal hearing. In some cases,
other fees may also apply. If a claim is
successful, the employee may apply
for the costs of the fees to be covered
by the employer. Some employees,
including those on low incomes, may
be exempt from fees.
Remember, when a claim is lodged
with a tribunal, Acas will continue to
offer conciliation to both sides until
the tribunal makes a judgment and,
if the claim is successful, a remedy
decision (usually financial
compensation) has been made.
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