Return of Tribunal Fees?

Consultation by the MoJ has started on introducing a fee of £55 for all employment tribunal claims and EAT appeals. The fee will be payable on presenting a claim to an employment tribunal or lodging an appeal with the EAT.  It is not proposed that there should be any further fees throughout the life of the claim / appeal.

The consultation proposes:

• A one-off fee for ANY type of claim (with some specific low activity exceptions);
• Multiple claims will only attract one fee so that costs can be shared between Claimants;
• If an EAT appeal is against more than one decision, then a fee is to be paid against each decision.
• A full remission scheme will be in place – run by the Government

It is thought that the re-introduction of fees will encourage early settlement and contribute to the cost of running the Employment Tribunal system (generating approximately £1.7 million).

The MoJ says that the scheme is affordable, proportional, and simple and will put Claimants on the same footing as other court users.  It also predicts that more settlements will be encouraged through ACAS.

If this proposal gets the go ahead, it is planned to implement the fee structure from November 2024 (likely around the time of the next general election).  It is also likely that, if a Labour government wins the general election, it would promptly remove these fees again!

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Authors

Victoria von Wachter

Call 1997

Daniel Hobbs

Call 1998

Related areas

Employment

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