17 August 2017

Were you deterred from bringing a claim against your employer because of Employment Tribunal fees? If so, we might be able to help.

We recently reported in our blog Tribunal Fees Order Unlawful - Where Now? that on 26 July 2017, the Supreme Court handed down a judgment abolishing the Fees Order which required the relevant party to pay a fee in order to proceed with their claim or appeal in the Employment Tribunal or Employment Appeal Tribunal.  

Individuals who were prevented or deterred from bringing claims because of the Fees Order as well as claimants whose claims were rejected or dismissed due to non-payment of fees are likely to believe that their potential claim is now time-barred and can no longer be pursued.

While such proceedings are likely to be time-barred, there may be scope for arguing that it should now be allowed to be submitted late, if it can be shown that the reason it wasn’t brought in-time was because of the fees regime.

A case management order was recently issued by the President of the Employment Tribunal (Scotland) stating that all claims or applications brought in the Employment Tribunal in Scotland in reliance upon the decision of the Supreme Court in R (UNISON) v Lord Chancellor 2017 shall be sisted to await decisions of the Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) in relation to the implications of that decision.

This means that individuals who believe that they may have a valid claim but were denied access to justice as a result of the fees regime should act quickly, if they want to explore whether or not they should now bring their proceedings late. This is an evolving issue and future decisions of the Ministry of Justice and HMCTS could result in individuals being able to pursue what they believed to be “lost chance” litigation.

If you have been affected in this way, you may wish to speak to a solicitor to discuss your options.

Contact: Lesley Grant Associate ljg@bto.co.uk T. 0141 221 8012

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