Consultation: Introducing fees in the Employment Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal
30 January 2024
Government has opened a consultation regarding plans to reintroduce fees for bringing employment tribunal and employment appeal tribunal claims.
Fees were previously introduced in 2013 but were abolished in 2017, following a significant fall in the number of cases brought to tribunal and wide held belief that the fees to bring a claim were excessive. Since 2017 it has been free to bring a claim.
Now it is considered reasonable that those using the tribunals contribute some amount toward the costs of running the system. However, mindful of the previous issues, they plan a flat rate fee of £55 to bring a claim to employment tribunal and the same amount to bring a claim to employment appeal tribunal. There is also a stated hope that reintroduction of fees will encourage use of the early conciliation process but, as that process is already mandatory, we consider it unlikely that claimants’ obligation to pay a fee will make any difference to the participation of both parties in conciliation.
The consultation is open until 25th March 2024.
Read the full consultation here