At the same time as various other changes in employment law on
29 July 2013 (see the July issue of HR Headlines), the new
Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure came into force.
The new rules govern employment tribunal practice and procedure
across England, Wales and Scotland. They were devised following a
review of the current system by Justice Underhill who is a former
President of the Employment Appeal Tribunal. The aim was to reduce
the burden on the tribunal system, to speed up the process and to
cut red tape. In practice, the impact of the rules to the HR
community is likely to be small. However, an important change to be
aware of is the introduction of a new 'sifting stage'
triggered when a claim is submitted.
It is now the case that, at the very outset, every case will be
reviewed by an Employment Judge on paper to confirm there are
arguable complaints and defences within the Tribunal's
jurisdiction and that the case has a reasonable prospect of
success. As this process will be conducted without the involvement
of the parties and on the papers only it is ever more important for
the ET3 form and accompanying grounds of resistance to be drafted
carefully and in as much detail as necessary.
Under the new rules, Case Management Discussions and Pre-Hearing
Reviews have now been replaced with a simpler consolidated
Preliminary Hearing. It will now not be necessary to attend two
small hearings prior to the substantive hearing as all case
management issues and any preliminary applications will be dealt
with together.
There are also new Employment Tribunal Forms ET1 (Claim Form) and
ET3 (Response Form) which have a fresh appearance but are broadly
similar in content. The new forms together with the guidance notes
are now available on the Ministry of Justice website. http://www.justice.gov.uk/forms/hmcts/employment
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.