Employment Tribunal Fees & General Costs

Employment Tribunal Estimate of Fees and Costs:

For an example of Employment Tribunal Fees and Costs, please see below a table to show how costs are incurred in an Employment Tribunal Claim for a straightforward unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal claim.

Where other claims are made such as discrimination or whistle blowing costs are usually increased because of the wider and more complex range of issues that may arise, as well as the number of documents and witnesses.

We would always advise you to consider other funding options which may be available to you through an insurance policy and we will discuss this with you at your first appointment.

Please see below a table that provides an explanation of any acronyms used in Employment Tribunal Claims.

Range of likely costs

Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal:

Factors that could make a case more complex:

• If it is necessary to make or defend additional interim applications, amend claims or defences or being ordered/required to provide further/additional information about existing claims or defences.
• Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person.
• Making or defending multiple claims/defences or dealing with a remedy or costs application.
• Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties).
• The number of witnesses and documents.
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if you are defending or claiming following a dismissal for blowing the whistle on your employer.
• Allegations of discrimination, which are linked to the dismissal.

Included in the range of costs template are the charges for attending a Tribunal Hearing of £1600 per day (excluding VAT). Generally, we would allow 1-2 days depending on the complexity and number of documents and witnesses in your case.

Disbursements:

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process.

Counsel's fees estimated between £1000 to 2500 per day (depending on experience and seniority of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation).

Key stages:

The fees set out above cover all of the most likely work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:

• Taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change);
• Entering into pre-claim conciliation with ACAS where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
• Preparing claim or response;
• Reviewing and advising on claim or response from other party;
• Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process;
• Preparing or considering a schedule of loss;
• Preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing;
• Preparing the index of documents for disclosure to the other side;
• Exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents;
• Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses;
• Preparing bundle of documents for the final hearing;
• Reviewing and advising on the other party's witness statements;
• Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list;
• Preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including preparation of instructions to Counsel;
• Incidental correspondence and telephone attendances.

The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fee estimate may be reduced. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged on your individual needs.

How long will my matter take?

The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 4-6 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, unless there are adjournments, your case historically was likely to take 26- 36 weeks, but currently we are experiencing a 15 to 18 month time scale. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.

Our Solicitors general commercial charge out rates are between - £200 -295 per hour plus VAT. For the purposes of the table we have used our insurance client backed rate of £200 plus vat. So you will need to adjust the figures for non-insurance/private commercial client work rates.

* Clients may wish to instruct Counsel instead of or in addition to your Solicitor. Depending on the representation option chosen there may be additional costs involved for this.

Table Estimate of Costs

If you requrie advice on your employment issue and you would like to discuss it with us, please contact us on 01332 558508.