Employment Tribunal Fees Revisited

Access to justice has been and always will be a significant challenge in all areas of law, and employment law is no exception. Back in 2013 Employment Tribunal Fees were introduced but then quashed in 2017 by the Supreme Court in R (Unison) v Lord Chancellor [2017] UKSC 51 because of its disproportionate impact on access to justice.

On 29 January 2024, the Ministry of Justice launched a consultation on the re-introduction of Employment Tribunal fees. The consultation proposes a "modest" £55 issue fee for all employment tribunal claims, except claims for payment from the National Insurance Fund (usually where the employer is insolvent) which would be exempt.

The fee would remain at £55 regardless of the number of complaints raised in the claim or the number of claimants on the claim form. Unlike the 2013 fees scheme, no separate hearing fee is proposed; the £55 issue fee will cover the entire “journey” of the claim. For appeals to the EAT, it is proposed that the appellant should pay a fee of £55 for each judgment, decision, direction or order being appealed.

Employment Tribunals would still be able to order that the Respondent pay a successful Claimant’s Tribunal fees.

The Ministry of Justice consider that this fee is generally affordable and would go a little way to boost funding the system. It remains to be seen how much challenge there will be to the proposed fees. On one view, the amount may still prevent access to justice for some subject to any help with fees that may be available. Nothing ever seems to stay the same for too long in employment law. The system does need funding but as ever, the question is at what cost to access to justice?

The contents of this post do not constitute legal advice and are provided for general information purposes only.