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CONSULTATION: INTRODUCTION EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL & EMPLOYMENT APPEAL TRIBUNAL FEES ..again

31/01/2024

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has launched a consultation proposing the re-introduction of ‘modest’ tribunal fees in Great Britain to pursue a claim in the Employment Tribunals.

Readers may recall that the trade union, Unison, successfully challenged the previous fee regime which was abolished following a Supreme Court Judgment in 2017. The previous regime was structured so that different and higher fees were payable to progress the claim further.

This Consultation states the MOJ has carefully considered the Supreme Court’s  Judgment and has endeavoured to ensure that: ‘fees proposed in this consultation are proportionate and affordable, in line with the judgment.’

Part of the proposal includes that those who cannot afford to pay the proposed fees will be supported by the fee remission scheme, Help with Fees (HwF).

In summary the Consultation proposes:

  1. To issue a Claim the Claimant must pay a one-off issue fee of £55 which will cover the entire journey of a claim in the Employment Tribunal. In other words there is no additional fee payable;
  1. There is no fee proposed for a Respondent to lodge a Response Form;
  2. To lodge an Appeal to Employment Appeal Tribunal fee the Appellant must pay an issue fee of £55. A further £55 would be payable per judgment, decision, direction or order of an ET being appealed;
  3. There are a number of Exemptions including those lodging claims against the Redundancy Payment Service (i.e. what a business is insolvent);
  1. There are no proposals to change the current costs regime and it will remain the case that each party will bear their own costs.

The Consultation period commenced on 29 January 2024 and continues for 8 weeks closing on 25 March 2024. A reminder that it only applies in Great Britain and does not extend to Northern Ireland.

COMMENTARY

The proposals are more akin to the costs payable to lodge a claim in the small claims court. At such a low level they are unlikely to cover the Tribunal costs particularly when you factor in the administration around collecting them. Whether they will be a disincentive to anyone proposing to pursue a claim remains to be seen.

Northern Ireland was very much against introducing Tribunal fees the first time around and we doubt that there be any appetite to introduce fees here now.

The Consultation can be accessed here.