Employment tribunal
Plain-English definitions for England and Wales. General information, not legal advice. Laws and figures change - always check the current position on GOV.UK.
Employment tribunal An independent judicial body in England and Wales that decides disputes between employees or workers and employers - such as unfair dismissal, discrimination and unpaid wages. Hearings are less formal than the civil courts and each side usually pays its own costs.
Also known as: ET, tribunal
Related terms
- Preliminary hearing
- A hearing held before the final hearing to deal with case-management matters (such as setting a timetable, clarifying the issues, or ordering disclosure) or to decide a specific preliminary point (such as whether a claim was brought in time). It can be in private or in public depending on what it covers.
- Remedy hearing
- A hearing - sometimes combined with the main hearing, sometimes separate - held after a claim succeeds to decide what the employer must pay or do, for example compensation or, more rarely, reinstatement.
- ET1 claim form
- The form used to start an employment tribunal claim. It sets out who you are claiming against and what your claims are. You normally cannot submit it until you have an ACAS Early Conciliation certificate, and it must reach the tribunal within the time limit.
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