EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL COSTS

A guide on employment tribunal costs from the employment law experts

Marjon Law, specialist employment lawyers is owner-led by Marc Jones, who is ranked and recommended in legal publications as a leading employment law solicitor, with over 20 years of experience practising solely in employment law.

If you would like urgent advice on employment tribunal claims, please contact us as soon as possible.

This web page should be read in conjunction with the web pages EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL CLAIMS and EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL PROCEDURE

What are the likely costs of an employment tribunal claim?

We set out below the estimated legal costs for bringing and defending employment tribunal claims for unfair dismissal and/or wrongful dismissal. Within the examples, we have made some assumptions and included some of the most common factors which may increase or decrease the legal costs:

simple case: £5,000 – £10,000 (excluding VAT)
medium complexity case: £10,000 – £15,000 (excluding VAT)
high complexity case: £15,000 – £35,000 (excluding VAT)

VAT is charges at 20% on all legal costs.

Factors that could make a case more complex are:

if it is necessary to make applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties)
the number of witnesses
the number of documents
if it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim (eg whistleblowing)
allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal
making or defending an interim application (eg strike out or a deposit)
making or defending a costs application
in wrongful dismissal claims, if the employer brings a counterclaim.

There will be additional legal costs for attending an employment tribunal hearing at the estimated fee of £950 – £1,500 per day (excluding VAT) depending on the preparation involved. There will also be travelling expenses depending on the location of the tribunal.

What are disbursements?

Disbursements are additional costs related to the employment tribunal claim that are incurred by third parties (eg barrister's fees). These would usually be paid directly to the third party rather than to us.

Barristers' fees will depend on the experience of the advocate, the length of the hearing and the level of preparation required. Typically, the barristers' fees will range from around:

£1,500 to £10,000 (excluding VAT) to prepare for the hearing and attendance on the first day of the hearing (brief fee)
£500 to £3,000 per day (excluding VAT) for each extra day of a hearing at a flat rate (refresher).

Are there alternative funding methods?

There may be other options for funding an employment tribunal claim rather than paying for these privately, as detailed below:

For employees

legal expenses insurance - home and contents insurance, car insurance or credit card insurance may provide cover for employment tribunal claims
trade union or other membership organisation - the professional body may agree to provide representation for an employment tribunal claim
damages-based agreement (DBA) - this is a "no win - no fee" agreement and in some cases we may be able to offer this type of arrangement to clients following a thorough case assessment, which will be charged at our usual hourly rate.

For employees and employers

running the employment tribunal case yourself - we can also help you at various stages in the tribunal process as and when you need assistance, for example, drafting witness statements. We are always happy to be as involved as you need us to be.

What are the stages of an employment tribunal claims?

The estimated legal costs set out above would cover work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:

taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising on the merits and possible compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change)
entering into Acas early conciliation to explore whether a settlement can be reached to avoid having to bring a tribunal claim
preparing the claim or response
exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process
preparing for (and attending) a preliminary hearing, if ordered by a tribunal
dealing with a tribunal's directions: (a) preparing a schedule of loss or counter schedule of loss (b) exchanging documents with the other party (c) agreeing a bundle of documents with the other party (d) preparing witness statements and agreeing their content with witnesses
reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements
preparing or reviewing a list of issues, a chronology of events and/or a cast list
preparation and attendance at a final hearing, including instructions to a barrister (if appropriate).

The stages set out above relate to a typical tribunal case.

For further information on the employment tribunal procedure: see web page Employment tribunal procedure

How long do employment tribunal claims take to reach a conclusion?

The time that it takes from taking a client's initial instructions to the final hearing of an employment tribunal depends largely on the stage at which the case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during Acas early conciliation, a case is likely to take 1-6 weeks.

If a case does not settle during Acas early conciliation and proceeds to a final hearing and is listed for 1 day is likely to take 6-9 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 and as the matter progresses.

*due to the backlog with employment tribunal listing cases this could be up to 18 months

The material contained in this web page is provided for general purposes only and does not constitute legal or other professional advice. Appropriate legal advice should be sought for specific circumstances and before action is taken.