Employment Tribunal Claim Form

Employment Tribunal Claim Form

The new employment tribunal claim form that was introduced at the end of July 2013 can now be completed online. This makes completing the form a relatively easy process from a practicality point of view. This article will run through the claim form and hopefully make it less of a headache. If however after reading through this article you still have worries please do not hesitate to contact us on [phonenumber] and we might be able to assist in taking your claim forward, including assisting in completing the employment tribunal claim form.

Claim Type

This is fairly self-explanatory  and only has two questions on the page. All this page is trying to find out is whether you’re making a single claim or whether you’re trying to make a multiple claimant claim. It also is trying to find out whether you are trying to gain a remission from the fees that are now in place in the employment tribunals. If you are unsure of whether you are able to obtain a fees remission please see our remission flow chart which can be found here.

Fee Type

This section is slightly more complicated than the initial page. You will need to know what your claim is relating to. If it’s an unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal or discrimination claim then the first question is not applicable; if your claim is about one from the list you need to select that one. The next question is only relevant if you’re making a redundancy claim against the secretary of state. The third question is if it’s to do with an appeal against a particular body and the final question is what you select if you’re making one of the three claims that was mentioned above.

Your Details

This is fairly self-explanatory and you just need to input you various details into the employment tribunal claim form.

Respondent’s Details

Again this is a fairly simple section of the form. You just need to enter in the details relating to your current (or former employers), obviously if you worked from a different address make sure you select yes and enter all the correct details. The last box is if you wish to make a further claim against another individual or organisation who is eligible to be taken to tribunal.

Multiple Cases

This page is only relevant if you know of other claims that are being made against your employer and are of a similar nature to your own claim.

Cases where the respondent was not your employer

The only time you would say that you were not employed by any of the respondents would be if you were making a claim related to a job application (so potentially discrimination) or possibly action against a trade union or qualifying body.

Employment Details

Another fairly straight forward page in the employment tribunal claim form. You just need to enter in when you started working for the company and if it has ended when it ended. If you are still employed with the company then you will need to enter the amount of notice that you are supposed to be receiving if you decide to resign.

Earnings and Benefits

This is quite an important page as this will help establish what your claim will be worth at least with regard to the basic award. You need to put in how much you get each month or week both before and after tax. You also need to add in any other details with regard to your remuneration, so if you receive a company car or company phone etc you need to make sure you put that in your claim form as this will add to the value of your claim.  When you submit a schedule of loss at a later date you can of course adjust it but it is handy to have the correct figures in from the beginning if your employer wants to attempt to settle at an early date in the process.

If your employment with the respondent has ended, what has happened since?

In the employment tribunal claim form this is quite important as again it will be used to help address the value of your claim and whether it is worth pursuing. If for example you have only been there for 2 years and you have immediately walked into a job that  is of a similar wage to your previous one  then this will significantly affect your compensation. You will if successful get a small basic award however your compensatory award will be almost completely negated by the fact that you are already earning a similar amount as previously.

Type and details of claim

Many see this as the most important page in the entire employment tribunal claim form. This is because it is here in which you need to enter all the details that make up your claim and select the claims that you want to make to the tribunal. Make sure that you select all the relevant claims now because although you can add them at a later day the other side will not appreciate it and nor will the employment tribunal. However do not just tick all of them and then think that you can sort it out at a later date as the other side might turn round and try and get a costs order against you for wasting time making superfluous claims.

The blank box is for you to enter in all the details of your claim. This is where you  tell the story about what has happened to you. The one big piece of advice if you’re drafting the claim form yourself is to use numbered paragraphs and try not to make the paragraphs too big otherwise it can become too unwieldy. This makes it easier for the tribunal to navigate through and to raise any issues that may be brought up. You need to include all of the relevant details (but it does not need to be in legal terms) but try to avoid padding it out with irrelevant information.  You should always try to start with some background information to your claim such as how long you have worked there, what your job role was and what the company did. This is all to make it easier for the tribunal to get an image of what you did there and how it fits in with the claim that you are making.

You should also make sure that for each of the claims that you ticked at the start of the page you should ensure that you describe why you are making these claims. You need to include all the dates and times and mention anyone who might have witnessed the events.

What you want if your claim is successful?

This section is all down to personal preference and what you wish to achieve out of your employment tribunal claim. This can include getting your old job back (reinstatement) as well as compensation, another job with the same employer and compensation (re-engagement), purely  compensation or if you’re making a discrimination claim, a recommendation.

You can also if you want put in a figure which you feel is appropriate. Now as a rule of thumb when it comes to Tribunal, when they are considering compensation and you have yet to gain employment the normal compensation will probably amount to the loss of earnings till the date of tribunal and then a further 6 months after that. However depending on the job they might supply a larger figure or smaller figure accordingly.

Information to regulators in protected disclosure cases

This page has two questions on. The first is only relevant in a few cases and that is whether you are making a whistle-blowing claim in your employment tribunal claim form and you should answer accordingly.

The second question (and one which seems to be oddly placed) is whether you have a representative. Now if you’re filling it out yourself it’s doubtful that you will have. However if you wish for one of our team to consider your case and possibly represent you at tribunal (and complete the form for you) please do not hesitate to contact us on [phonenumber]. If you do have a representative and so clicked yes the next page will require the details of your representative.

Special Requirements

In here you need to put in whether you have a disability. If you click yes you will then need to put in any details which are required to help ensure your claim is progressed with as much assistance as possible/is required.

Additional Information

In this box you can carry on the details of your claim if you needed to go above the 70 lines that it was limited to in the first instance. You can also if you have it already typed up attach a .rtf file containing the detail of your claim. This saves you having to complete the earlier box asking for the detail of your claim.

Diversity Monitoring Questionnaire

This is an optional section which you do not need to complete if you do not want to. If you do want to fill it in you will be asked various questions about your nationality, your gender, your sexual orientation etc. It is entirely up to you if you wish to fill it in.

Email Receipt

This is the end of the Employment Tribunal Claim Form. All you need to do is put in your email address so that they can send you a receipt once you have submitted the form. Once you have done that and clicked submit the form is sent for processing and the process has begun which could ultimately lead you to being in an Employment Tribunal.

If after reading this information you feel a bit overwhelmed by the form or you just want a bit of advice about whether it will be worth going through the hassle of completing the claim form for something which might not be worth very much; contact us on [phonenumber] where one of our advisers will be happy to give you some initial advice on your situation.