Employment Tribunal Fees
Cost information for defending against claims in an employment tribunal:
Low complexity claims: £2,000 to £5,000 (excluding VAT)
Average complexity claims: £5,000 to £20,000 (excluding VAT)
High complexity claims: £20,000 to £50,000 (excluding VAT)
This pricing covers all work involved in connection with the following stages of a claim:
• Taking your initial instructions, reviewing documents and advising you on the strength of your case.
• Entering into mandatory pre-claim conciliation, to explore whether a settlement can be reached.
• Preparing a response to the claim.
• Exploring the idea of negotiating potential settlement.
• Bearing in mind a Schedule of Loss.
• Preparing for and attending any Preliminary Hearing.
• Exchanging documents with the other side and agreeing the Tribunal documents.
• Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses.
• Reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements.
• Agreeing a list of issues and chronology where necessary.
The stages are only an idea of what may be necessary, some of the stages above are may not be necessary and in turn the cost will be reduced. Costs will be determined on each client’s needs.
Complexity
In terms of complexity, there are many explanations as to why a case can become more complicated. These include:
• If it is essential to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim.
• Defending claims that are brought by litigants in person.
• Making or defending a costs application.
• preliminary issues, for instance whether a claim has been made in time.
• The number of witnesses and documents.
• If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim.
Other complicated cases include unfair or wrongful dismissal claims which also that also comprise of allegations of discrimination or whistleblowing. Therefore, the costs of defending such a claim could exceed those mentioned above.
Hearing
There will be an additional daily charge for attending a Tribunal Hearing of £1,200 to £3,500 (excluding VAT) (depending on the experience of the advocate). Generally, you should allow 1 to 3 days for a Tribunal Hearing depending on the complexity of the case.
Disbursements
Disbursements are costs related for all work undertaken by us regarding your case that are payable to third parties, such as court fees.
We may send you a bill for our charges and expenses, either when the work is completed or at intervals during the work, generally at the end of each calendar month
If a barrister is instructed to attend a Tribunal Hearing, we would expect a barrister’s fee for a one-day hearing to be between £700 and £3,500 excluding VAT (depending on the barrister’s experience). A barrister’s charges for multi-day hearings would depend on the length of the hearing and the experience of the advocate.
Funding
You may have other funding options available, such as cover under an insurance policy and this should be checked by you as it could reduce your costs.
How long will my case take?
The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your case depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, the case is likely to take 2 to 4 weeks. If the claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, the case is likely to take 6 to 12 months. This is just an estimate and we will, of course, be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information regarding your case.
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