The general rule is that a claim by an employee (known as the “Claimant”) to the Employment Tribunal must be filed within three months of the act complained of, whether it is the date of dismissal or the act of discrimination. Once the Application is submitted (via a Form ET1), the employer (known as the “Respondent”) has 28 days from the date that the Tribunal processes the Application.

There may then take place an initial hearing, such as a Case Management Discussion, to either set down directions by which either party must exchange information, or how long the hearing should last for, and what dates it should be listed on. A Pre-Hearing Review is another type of hearing which will consider a preliminary issue, such as jurisdiction to hear a certain case, eg whether the application has been submitted in time or whether the Claimant is classed as an employee.

The Claimant will have to file a schedule of loss which sets out the loss of earnings that they have incurred. Each party will also have to prepare a list of documents which is exchanged with the other parties list on a specified date. Both parties can then ask the other party for any documents that are not in their possession.

Once this is completed, the next step is for the parties to agree what documents should comprise the final Tribunal hearing bundle index and one of the parties (usually the Respondent) will prepare the final “bundles” of documents that the Tribunal panel will refer to at the hearing.

Witness statements will also need to be prepared on behalf of all witnesses giving evidence at the hearing. The statements are then exchanged with the other party prior to the listed hearing (usually 14 days prior to the hearing).

Straightforward cases take about three to six months from start to finish, however they can take longer than this if the matter is more complex or involves several hearings.

Usually, cases in the Employment Tribunal will be listed for a one day hearing. However, if the issues are very complex and there are many witnesses for each party, the hearing may be listed for more than one day.