Employment Tribunal Fees Scrapped

Posted on: 16 Aug 2017

Recruitment specialists should be aware of the recent victory by trade union Unison in successfully getting tribunal fees scrapped.

The union had been fighting the decision to introduce fees for employees who wished to take their employers to a tribunal, for a number of years since they were first introduced in 2013.

The union had long argued that the introduction of fees was unjust as it disproportionately hit poorer workers, and those with less resources in general, it claimed.

The Supreme Court found that the Government had failed to consider the benefits of the tribunal system when it set the fees, it reported when it overturned them in July.

The introduction of fees had brought about a significant reduction in the number of employment tribunals held, compared to the period before, which had been the aim of the Government who claimed they wanted to discourage malicious cases.

Still, the Supreme Court ruled that the way in which the Government had introduced the fees was unconstitutional and that they must be scrapped with immediate effect.

UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The Government is not above the law. But when ministers introduced fees they were disregarding laws many centuries old, and showing little concern for employees seeking justice following illegal treatment at work.”

The decision could lead to historic cases which never reached the tribunal stage due to the fees now taking place, as people will be able to bring employers to court without paying the fees.

The current justice secretary said they would be investigating refunding those who had paid for tribunals.