Guidance

Employment tribunal - what happens after you submit a claim (T421)

Updated 5 February 2024

Introduction

Please contact a tribunal office or the employment tribunals customer contact centre if you would like this guidance in a different format:

England and Wales: 0300 323 0196
Welsh speakers: 0300 303 5176
Scotland: 0300 790 6234

Presidential guidance

Under the employment tribunal rules, the presidents of the employment tribunals in England and Wales and in Scotland may issue presidential guidance. The aim of that guidance is to improve consistency in the way employment tribunals manage cases and enable the parties to better understand what is expected of them and what to expect. It is not binding but should be followed where possible.

You can find the presidential guidance issued by both presidents.

Claim process summary

1. Dispute resolution

1. Dispute arises.
2. Try to resolve informally with employer.
3. Early conciliation with Acas (advisory, conciliation and arbitration service).

2. Submit a claim to the tribunal

Estimated time: 5 days

1. Send a claim to tribunal.
2. Claim is accepted (or not accepted and returned) and sent to the respondent.

3. Respondent’s response

The respondent has 28 days to respond.

4. Case management

Estimated time: 26 weeks

1. If the respondent did not respond to the claim, a judgment is issued.
2. If there is a response, both parties can make applications within the case.
3. A hearing is held.

5. Judgment

Judgment issued within 4 weeks after the final hearing.

Judgments issued to parties from February 2017 are published on the online public register.

After the tribunal receive your claim

We have accepted your claim and given it a case number which you should quote when you contact the tribunal office by phone or in writing.

We have also sent a copy of your claim to the respondent (or respondents if you are complaining about more than one person or company or organisation) together with a response form on which they must provide certain information and say whether they do not agree with (resist) your claim and, if so, why.

Acas’s role

In most cases we will send a copy of your claim form and the respondent’s response form to Acas, an independent, impartial organisation. An Acas conciliator will contact you to explore whether it may be possible to resolve the claim through conciliation, and without the need for a tribunal hearing. This step is required by law even though you have already been through early conciliation.

How long the respondent has to respond to a claim

The respondent must complete and return the response form within 28 days of the date that we sent the copy of your claim to them, or longer, if an extension of time is granted by the tribunal.

If the respondent does not reply within the time limit or fails to supply the necessary information, their response will not be accepted and the claim is likely to be treated as one to which no defence has been submitted.

In those circumstances an employment judge can decide the claim without the need for a hearing, although a hearing to determine compensation may sometimes be required.

After the respondent’s response form has been accepted

Once the respondent’s response form has been accepted, there may be some issues which need to be dealt with before your case can be decided.

If witnesses are vital to the case but will not come to the hearing freely, you can ask for a witness order to make them attend.

If you decide that you need more information or documents from the respondent, you should ask for this in writing, giving a reasonable time limit for responding. If the respondent does not provide the information you ask for, you should write to the tribunal as soon as possible. You should enclose a copy of your written request and ask the tribunal to issue an order.

The tribunal can also decide that more information is needed from either you or the respondent to clear up a particular matter. The tribunal can give directions in writing or issue orders which you must follow.

In some cases, the tribunal may hold a preliminary hearing to allow an employment judge to deal with matters like this. It may be held over the phone, by video link if that is appropriate or in person. It is important that you carry out or comply with any order made by the tribunal.

You should note that Acas conciliation will continue to be available to resolve your claim without the need for a tribunal hearing.

When your claim will be heard

We will write to you and the respondent at least 14 days before the day of the hearing to tell you when the hearing will take place. With this letter, we will direct you to our guidance for claimants, which will help you prepare for the hearing.

If your case settles or you want to withdraw your claim

You must let us know immediately if your case settles before the hearing.

The conciliation officer will let us know if your case is settled through Acas.

You must write to us if you want to withdraw either all or part of your claim. You must also tell the respondent that you are withdrawing your claim. You must do this as soon as possible.

Respond to the tribunal by email

A full list of employment tribunal email addresses can be found at the bottom of this guide. You must make sure you quote the case number in any correspondence and in the title bar of the email and send it to the tribunal office dealing with the claim.

The office will correspond by email if this is your preference.

Documents sent to the tribunal must be in a ‘Word’ compatible format. We will not accept documents in other formats.

When we receive your email, we will send you an electronic acknowledgement. Do not send further emails or phone the tribunal office unless you have not received an acknowledgement within 2 working days of sending your email.

You are responsible for making sure that the tribunal receives any correspondence sent by email within the relevant time limit.

If you want us to communicate with you by email, you will need to supply a valid email address if you have not already done so on the claim form. When you ask us to communicate with you by email, you are agreeing that you check for incoming email at least once every day and that we may pass your email address to other people involved in your claim.

Disability or special needs

If you or anyone coming to a tribunal with you has a disability or a particular need, you should contact the tribunal office dealing with your case to discuss the matter. Examples of the help we can provide include:

• converting documents to Braille or larger print
• paying for sign language interpreters

We can also provide hearing-induction loops in the room where the hearing is held if you need them. Contact us as soon as possible so we can make appropriate or suitable arrangements.

Standards of service

If you are unhappy with our service, please contact any tribunal office or Customer Contact Centre for a copy of our publication EX343, which explains our complaints procedure.

Customer contact centre details can be found at the top of this guide.

Employment tribunal offices

Aberdeen

Ground floor, AB1
48 Huntly Street
Aberdeen
AB10 1SH

Phone: 01224 593 137
Email: [email protected]

Bristol

Bristol Civil and Family Justice Centre
2 Redcliff Street
Bristol
BS1 6GR

Phone: 0117 929 8261
Email: [email protected]

Dundee

Ground Floor
Endeavour House
Greenmarket
Dundee
DD1 4BZ

Phone: 01382 221578
Email: [email protected]

East London

2nd Floor
Import Building
2 Clove Crescent
London
E14 2BE

Phone: 020 7538 6161
Email: [email protected]

Edinburgh

54-56 Melville Street
Edinburgh
EH3 7HF

Phone: 0131 226 5584
Email: [email protected]

Glasgow

The Glasgow Tribunals Centre
20 York Street
Glasgow
G2 8GT

Phone: 0141 204 0730
Email: [email protected]

Leeds

West Gate
6 Grace Street
Leeds
LS1 2RP

Phone: 0113 245 9741
Email: [email protected]

London Central

Victory House
30-34 Kingsway
London
WC2B 6EX

Phone: 020 7273 8603
Email: [email protected]

London South

Montague Court
101 London Road
West Croydon
CR0 2RF

Phone: 020 8667 9131
Email: [email protected]

Manchester

Alexandra House
14-22 The Parsonage
Manchester
M3 2JA

Phone: 0161 833 6100
Email: [email protected]

Midlands (East)

Nottingham Justice Centre
Carrington Street
Nottingham
NG2 1EE

Phone: 0115 947 5701
Email: [email protected]

Midlands (West)

Centre City Tower
7 Hill Street
Birmingham
B5 4UU

Phone: 0121 600 7780
Email: [email protected]

Newcastle

Newcastle Civil Family Courts and Tribunal Centre
Barras Bridge
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 8QF

Phone: 0191 205 8750
Email: [email protected]

Wales

Cardiff and the Vale Magistrates Court
Fitzalan Place
Cardiff
South Wales
CF24 0RZ

Phone: 029 2067 8100
Email: [email protected]

Watford

3rd Floor
Radius House
51 Clarendon Rd
Watford
WD17 1HP

Phone: 01923 281 750
Email: [email protected]

Our offices are open from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday.

We will direct you to a map showing the location of the office where the hearing has been arranged.