Earlier this year, the Supreme Court abolished Employment Tribunal (ET) fees and Employment Appeal Tribunal fees and ruled that the fee regime is unlawful.
This means that no one should have been asked to pay a fee and those that did are entitled to be refunded from the government.
If the government repays fees to the party who originally funded the claim (Claimants), Respondents who have repaid these may be able to recover payments directly from the Claimant and/or the government.
Unfortunately, the position remains unclear with employers awaiting further updates from the government regarding the logistics of recovering fees paid to successful Claimants.
Another concern that employers are facing is the potential rise in unmeritorious claims.
Claimants that were previously put off issuing a claim because of the requirement to pay a fee will no longer have a barrier to commencing proceedings against their former employer.
Anecdotal reports from Tribunals around the country reveal that even in the short period since the abolition of fees, which includes August (traditionally a very quiet month) number of claims has gone up by, in some cases, more than 100%.
If you have any questions regarding the abolishment of ET fees or have recently been served with an ET1 Claim Form by a former employee, please contact a solicitor from our legal team for advice.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are for information purposes only and should not be relied upon as formal legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article. Specific legal advice should be sort tailored to the individual circumstances in all cases.
