What is an employment tribunal?

An employment tribunal is an independent judicial body that decides disputes between workers and their employers. It is part of HM Courts and Tribunals Service. Tribunals hear claims about unfair dismissal, redundancy, discrimination, unpaid wages, holiday pay, working time and several other employment rights. They are less formal than the civil courts, but the decisions are legally binding and enforceable.

How long do I have to make a claim?

For most claims, three months less one day from the act complained of. Unfair dismissal runs from the effective date of termination; discrimination from the act of discrimination; unlawful deduction of wages from each deduction. Redundancy pay claims have a six-month limit. The clock stops while ACAS early conciliation is open. Missing the deadline almost always defeats the claim regardless of merits.

Do I need a lawyer to bring a claim?

No, you can represent yourself, and many claimants do. The tribunal is designed to be navigable without a lawyer, although the rules are technical and the evidence requirements are real. Trade unions, Citizens Advice and Law Centres provide free help. Specialist employment solicitors typically offer a fixed-fee initial consultation and may work on no-win-no-fee terms in stronger cases.

Is there a fee to bring a tribunal claim?

No. Tribunal fees were declared unlawful by the Supreme Court in R (UNISON) v Lord Chancellor [2017] UKSC 51 and have not been reinstated. Bringing a claim is free at the point of access. There are still indirect costs (your own time, time off work, sometimes a solicitor or expert), but the tribunal itself does not charge a fee for the ET1.

What can I be awarded if I win?

It depends on the claim. Unfair dismissal awards consist of a basic award (calculated like statutory redundancy pay) plus a compensatory award (actual loss of earnings and benefits, capped). Discrimination claims add an injury to feelings award under the Vento bands. Wage and holiday claims pay the amount unlawfully withheld. The detail is on the compensation page.

Can the employer claim costs against me if I lose?

Cost orders are unusual in employment tribunals, in contrast to the civil courts. The tribunal will only consider a cost order if the claim or its conduct was vexatious, abusive, disruptive, or otherwise unreasonable, or had no reasonable prospect of success. The typical outcome of an unsuccessful claim is no cost order at all.

How long does a tribunal claim take?

From the day you notify ACAS to a final judgment, most claims take six to eighteen months. ACAS early conciliation runs up to six weeks. The tribunal then sets a preliminary hearing within two to four months and a full hearing within nine to fifteen months of the ET1, depending on regional caseload. Many claims settle before the full hearing.

Employment Tribunal UK: A Plain English Guide (2026)

What an employment tribunal is

An employment tribunal is an independent judicial body that resolves workplace disputes. It is part of HM Courts and Tribunals Service, sits separately from the civil courts and has its own procedural rules. Tribunals are designed to be more accessible than the courts: hearings are less formal, the rules are simpler, and parties are encouraged to represent themselves if they wish.

Cases are decided by a salaried Employment Judge sitting alone in straightforward matters. In discrimination and equal pay cases, the judge sits with two lay members: one from an employer background, one from an employee background. Decisions are made on the balance of probabilities, the same civil standard used in the county courts.

The tribunal’s power is to find facts, apply the law and make orders for compensation or reinstatement. It cannot punish individuals or send anyone to prison. The vast majority of remedies are financial.

Who can bring a claim

Eligibility turns on employment status and the specific right being claimed. Three categories matter.

Employees (people working under a contract of service) have the widest set of rights. They can claim unfair dismissal, statutory redundancy pay, constructive dismissal, breach of contract on termination and the full suite of discrimination and wage-related rights. Most unfair dismissal rights require two years of continuous service.

Workers (people working personally for an employer but not under a full contract of service) can claim discrimination, unlawful deduction of wages, holiday pay, statutory sick pay and working time rights. They cannot claim unfair dismissal or statutory redundancy.

Self-employed contractors generally cannot bring tribunal claims. They can claim discrimination only if the relationship involves personal service to the contracting party (the Pimlico Plumbers test). For commercial disputes they have to use the civil courts.

Status is judged on substance, not contract labels. Mutuality of obligation, personal service and control are the indicators. The tribunal will look past the paperwork if reality differs from the contract.

The tribunal process at a glance

A tribunal claim runs through a fixed sequence. ACAS early conciliation comes first and is mandatory. If conciliation does not settle the dispute, the employee files an ET1 claim form with the tribunal. The employer responds on an ET3 form. The tribunal then schedules a preliminary hearing to identify the issues and a full hearing to decide them.

Throughout the process the tribunal can issue case management orders: disclosure of documents, exchange of witness statements, lists of issues. Parties who fail to comply can be struck out. Most claims settle before the full hearing.

For the day-by-day sequence and indicative timings, see the employment tribunal timeline page.

ACAS early conciliation

Before lodging an ET1, the claimant must notify ACAS for early conciliation. The notification is free, can be made online or by phone, and triggers a confidential conciliation process lasting up to six weeks. An ACAS officer contacts both sides to explore settlement. Conciliation is not arbitration: the ACAS officer does not impose a decision and does not advise on the merits.

Two outcomes are possible. A settlement reached through conciliation is recorded on a COT3 form and is binding. The same dispute cannot then be brought to tribunal. If conciliation does not settle, ACAS issues an early conciliation certificate, and the claimant has a fixed window to file the ET1.

ACAS conciliation pauses the tribunal time-limit clock. The mechanics are at the ACAS early conciliation page; the impact on deadlines is set out at the constructive dismissal time limits page (the same stop-the-clock rules apply to every tribunal claim).

Deadlines

Tribunal time limits are strict. Three months less one day from the act complained of is the default. The start date depends on the claim:

Unfair / constructive dismissal: from the effective date of termination.
Discrimination, harassment, victimisation: from the act of discrimination.
Unlawful deduction of wages: from the deduction. A series of deductions has its own rules.
Breach of contract on termination: three months from termination at tribunal (capped at £25,000); six years at the civil courts for higher-value claims.
Statutory redundancy pay: six months from the relevant date, with a tribunal discretion to extend by a further six months in limited circumstances.

The ACAS clock-stop applies to all of these. The tribunal’s power to extend a missed deadline is narrow. For unfair dismissal it is the “not reasonably practicable” test in section 111(2)(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996; for discrimination it is the wider “just and equitable” test. Either way, late claims usually fail.

Evidence

Tribunal cases turn on documentary evidence and contemporaneous witness statements. The tribunal expects both sides to disclose the relevant documents — emails, contracts, pay slips, grievance correspondence, meeting notes — well before the hearing. Failing to disclose, or disclosing late, draws adverse inferences.

Witness evidence is given by written statement and oral cross-examination at the hearing. The statements stand as the evidence in chief; questions at the hearing probe credibility and detail. The standard is the civil one: the tribunal decides on the balance of probabilities.

The strongest cases combine a clear documentary trail with consistent witness evidence. Hand-written diaries made at the time, dated photographs, and original emails are worth far more than reconstructions made months later. Personal device screenshots can be used but raise data protection issues; take advice before relying on them.

Hearings

Tribunal hearings come in three forms. A preliminary hearing identifies the issues, the list of witnesses, the orders the tribunal will make, and the date of the final hearing. A full merits hearing decides the case. A remedy hearing, sometimes held separately after a successful liability finding, decides the compensation.

Final hearings are public unless an order says otherwise. They are usually held in person at a regional tribunal centre, but many shorter hearings and preliminary hearings now take place by video. Hearings are scheduled in days; a straightforward unfair dismissal claim takes one to three days, a discrimination claim five to ten days, a complex multi-claimant case much longer.

The judge will ask questions, both sides will give evidence, witnesses will be cross-examined, and the parties will make submissions. Most judges give an oral decision at the end of the hearing or a short reserved judgment within a few weeks. Compensation is decided either in the same hearing or at a separate remedy hearing.

Judgments

The tribunal’s decision is set out in a written judgment with full reasons. Published judgments are available on the GOV.UK employment tribunal decisions database within a few weeks of being handed down. Successful claimants can enforce a money award through the High Court if the employer does not pay.

The tribunal can order four kinds of remedy. Most are financial: the basic award, the compensatory award, injury to feelings (in discrimination claims), and interest. Reinstatement orders (returning the employee to the same role) and re-engagement orders (returning to a comparable role) are theoretically available but rarely used because the practical relationship has usually broken down.

Compensation

The compensation rules depend on the claim. For unfair dismissal, a basic award (calculated like statutory redundancy pay) plus a compensatory award (actual loss of earnings, capped at £115,115 or 52 weeks’ pay for claims presented on or after 6 April 2024). For discrimination, the compensatory award is uncapped and an injury to feelings award is added under the Vento bands.

For wage and holiday claims, the tribunal awards the amount unlawfully withheld. For redundancy pay claims, it awards the statutory minimum. The detail, including worked examples and the tax treatment, is at the employment tribunal compensation page.

A useful starting point for modelling the figures is the redundancy pay calculator (which produces the same basic-award figure as a tribunal would) and the settlement agreement calculator (which models the equivalent settlement value).

Appeals

A tribunal decision can be appealed only on a point of law, not on the facts. The appeal goes to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT), which is presided over by a High Court judge sitting alone.

The time limit for an EAT appeal is 42 days from the date the written judgment is sent to the parties. The appellant has to identify the point of law (a mistake in the legal test applied, a perverse decision on the facts, a procedural irregularity, or bias). The EAT can dismiss, allow, or remit the case back to a differently constituted tribunal.

Further appeal lies to the Court of Appeal, and from there to the Supreme Court, but only with permission and only on points of law of general importance.

Risks and expectations

The realistic picture is sobering. Most claims settle for less than the maximum award. The median unfair dismissal award is in the £6,000 to £15,000 range. High awards (over £100,000) are rare and almost always involve senior, high-earning roles with no comparable alternative.

The process is also stressful and slow. Even an uncontested case takes six months from ET1 to judgment. A contested discrimination case can take eighteen months. Cross-examination is direct and public. The employer’s lawyers are paid to undermine your evidence.

The costs side is the biggest practical risk. The tribunal itself is free, but you may need to pay your own legal fees, take unpaid time off work, and fund interim financial gaps. The employment tribunal costs page covers all of this.

A pragmatic approach is to test the case through ACAS early conciliation, take advice on the strength of the evidence, and pursue a structured settlement rather than a contested hearing wherever possible. Use the settlement agreement calculator to model the equivalent settlement value and the can I afford to quit calculator to map your financial runway.

Related calculators

Redundancy pay calculator — produces the same basic-award maths a tribunal would apply.
Settlement agreement calculator — model the gross value of a potential settlement.
Redundancy runway calculator — how long the lump sum or interim payment will last.
Can I afford to quit calculator — runway maths before you take a step that ends your income.
PILON calculator — gross value of unworked notice that may be disputed.
Holiday entitlement calculator — accrued holiday owed at termination.

Related guides

Frequently asked questions

What is an employment tribunal?: An employment tribunal is an independent judicial body that decides disputes between workers and their employers. It is part of HM Courts and Tribunals Service. Tribunals hear claims about unfair dismissal, redundancy, discrimination, unpaid wages, holiday pay, working time and several other employment rights. They are less formal than the civil courts, but the decisions are legally binding and enforceable.
Who can bring a claim?: Employees, workers, agency staff and (in narrower categories) self-employed contractors can bring claims. The available rights depend on status. Employees have the widest set, including unfair dismissal and statutory redundancy pay. Workers can claim discrimination, unlawful deduction of wages and holiday pay. Self-employed contractors can usually only claim discrimination if the relationship involves personal service to the contracting party.
How long do I have to make a claim?: For most claims, three months less one day from the act complained of. Unfair dismissal runs from the effective date of termination; discrimination from the act of discrimination; unlawful deduction of wages from each deduction. Redundancy pay claims have a six-month limit. The clock stops while ACAS early conciliation is open. Missing the deadline almost always defeats the claim regardless of merits.
Do I need a lawyer to bring a claim?: No, you can represent yourself, and many claimants do. The tribunal is designed to be navigable without a lawyer, although the rules are technical and the evidence requirements are real. Trade unions, Citizens Advice and Law Centres provide free help. Specialist employment solicitors typically offer a fixed-fee initial consultation and may work on no-win-no-fee terms in stronger cases.
Is there a fee to bring a tribunal claim?: No. Tribunal fees were declared unlawful by the Supreme Court in R (UNISON) v Lord Chancellor [2017] UKSC 51 and have not been reinstated. Bringing a claim is free at the point of access. There are still indirect costs (your own time, time off work, sometimes a solicitor or expert), but the tribunal itself does not charge a fee for the ET1.
What can I be awarded if I win?: It depends on the claim. Unfair dismissal awards consist of a basic award (calculated like statutory redundancy pay) plus a compensatory award (actual loss of earnings and benefits, capped). Discrimination claims add an injury to feelings award under the Vento bands. Wage and holiday claims pay the amount unlawfully withheld. The detail is on the compensation page.
Can the employer claim costs against me if I lose?: Cost orders are unusual in employment tribunals, in contrast to the civil courts. The tribunal will only consider a cost order if the claim or its conduct was vexatious, abusive, disruptive, or otherwise unreasonable, or had no reasonable prospect of success. The typical outcome of an unsuccessful claim is no cost order at all.
How long does a tribunal claim take?: From the day you notify ACAS to a final judgment, most claims take six to eighteen months. ACAS early conciliation runs up to six weeks. The tribunal then sets a preliminary hearing within two to four months and a full hearing within nine to fifteen months of the ET1, depending on regional caseload. Many claims settle before the full hearing.

Sources and further reading

GOV.UK: Make a claim to an employment tribunal — Official starting point for the tribunal claim process.
Employment Rights Act 1996 — Primary statute for unfair dismissal, redundancy, deductions and notice.
Equality Act 2010 — Primary statute for discrimination, harassment and victimisation claims.
ACAS: Making a claim to an employment tribunal — Official ACAS guidance for claimants.
GOV.UK: Employment tribunal procedure rules 2013 — The procedural rules tribunals operate under.
Citizens Advice: Employment tribunal claims — Plain English overview from Citizens Advice.
R (UNISON) v Lord Chancellor [2017] UKSC 51 — Supreme Court judgment declaring tribunal fees unlawful.

General information about UK tribunal procedure, not legal advice. Outcomes are fact-sensitive and the time limits are strict. For your specific situation, contact ACAS or an employment-law solicitor.