6 April: Changes to tribunal procedure coming into force

The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012/468), which amend the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure, come into force on 6 April 2012. The amended procedural rules will apply to cases submitted to an employment tribunal on or after 6 April 2012. 

The changes brought in by the Regulations are that:

  • the maximum deposit that a tribunal may order a party to pay as a condition of continuing with tribunal proceedings, where it determines that the contentions put forward by that party have little reasonable prospect of succeeding, increases from £500 to £1,000;
  • witness statements are to be taken as read, unless the tribunal directs otherwise;
  • employment judges can direct that a party makes a payment to a witness in respect of the costs of attending a tribunal hearing, and the losing party can be ordered to reimburse the winning party for any such costs that have already been paid out; and
  • the maximum amount of a costs order that a tribunal may award in favour of a legally represented party increases from £10,000 to £20,000. 

The draft Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (Tribunal Composition) Order 2012, which is also due to come into force on 6 April 2012, provides that employment judges will sit alone when hearing unfair dismissal claims unless they direct otherwise. 

Also

The XpertHR employment law manual sets out the law on tribunal procedures. 

Podcast: "Radical" employment law reform; and employee engagement XpertHR consultant editor, Darren Newman, shares his thoughts on aspects of the Government's employment law reform proposals in the XpertHR Weekly podcast. 

The discussion continues in the following week's edition: Podcast: Christmas parties; and employment law reform. 

Legal timetable The XpertHR legal timetable sets out all the upcoming changes to employment legislation and provides details of new legislation that has recently come into force.