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🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Employment Tribunals

Filing a tribunal claim
in the UK.

If your employer has treated you unlawfully, an employment tribunal can put things right. Vera explains how to bring a claim — free and confidential.

What claims can you bring

Employment tribunals deal with disputes between workers and employers. The most common types of claim include:

• Unfair dismissal — you were sacked without a fair reason or proper process
• Discrimination — unlawful treatment because of age, sex, race, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy, or marriage/civil partnership
• Unpaid wages and deductions — your employer has not paid what you are owed, including holiday pay and overtime
• Redundancy pay — you were made redundant but did not receive statutory redundancy pay
• Breach of contract — your employer broke a term of your employment contract (only on termination of employment)
• Whistleblowing detriment — you suffered harm for making a protected disclosure about wrongdoing
• Working time violations — denial of rest breaks, exceeding the 48-hour week, or refusal of paid annual leave

Different claim types have different qualifying requirements. For ordinary unfair dismissal you need 2 years' continuous service, but discrimination claims, wage deduction claims, and whistleblowing claims have no minimum service requirement.

ACAS Early Conciliation

Before you can file a tribunal claim, you must contact ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) for Early Conciliation. This is mandatory — if you skip it, the tribunal will reject your claim.

1
Contact ACAS
Call 0300 123 1100 or submit a notification online at acas.org.uk. The service is completely free. You give basic details about yourself, your employer, and what your dispute is about.
2
Conciliation period
ACAS will contact your employer and try to help you reach a settlement. The initial period is up to one calendar month, which can be extended by up to 14 days if both parties agree.
3
Certificate issued
If no settlement is reached, ACAS issues an Early Conciliation certificate with a unique reference number. You need this number to file your tribunal claim.

Even if you are confident your employer will not settle, Early Conciliation is still worth engaging with seriously. Many disputes are resolved at this stage — saving you months of tribunal proceedings.

Filing the ET1 form

The ET1 is the official claim form for the Employment Tribunal. You can file online at gov.uk/employment-tribunals or submit a paper form by post. Online filing is recommended — it is faster and you receive instant confirmation.

The ET1 asks for your personal details, your employer's details, your ACAS Early Conciliation certificate number, and the grounds of your claim. The grounds section is critical: you must clearly explain what happened, when it happened, and why you believe it was unlawful.

Be specific and factual. Include dates, names, and describe each incident. If you are claiming discrimination, identify the protected characteristic and explain how the treatment was connected to it. If claiming unfair dismissal, state the reason your employer gave and why you believe it was unfair.

📖 Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013

Time limits

The standard time limit for most employment tribunal claims is 3 months minus 1 day from the date of the act you are complaining about. For unfair dismissal, this is usually your last day of employment. For discrimination, it is the date of the discriminatory act (or the last in a series of connected acts).

The clock stops when you submit your ACAS Early Conciliation notification and restarts when the certificate is issued. If the original deadline has already passed during conciliation, you get at least one extra calendar month after conciliation ends to file your ET1.

Late claims may be accepted if the tribunal decides it was not reasonably practicable to file on time (for unfair dismissal) or that it is just and equitable to extend time (for discrimination). However, these extensions are discretionary — do not rely on them. File as early as possible.

📖 Employment Rights Act 1996, s.111; Equality Act 2010, s.123

The hearing process

After your ET1 is accepted, the tribunal will send a copy to your employer, who must respond with an ET3 form within 28 days. The case then proceeds through several stages:

1
Case management
A judge may hold a preliminary hearing by phone or video to clarify the issues, set a timetable, and give directions (e.g. disclosure of documents, preparation of a bundle of evidence, exchange of witness statements).
2
Preliminary hearing
Some cases have a preliminary hearing to decide jurisdictional issues — for instance, whether the claim was filed in time, or whether the claimant has employee status. This can be in person or by video.
3
Full hearing
The final hearing is where both sides present their case. You and your witnesses give evidence, and the other side's representative can cross-examine you. The hearing typically lasts 1 to 5 days depending on complexity.

You can represent yourself at tribunal — many claimants do. However, for complex cases involving discrimination or large compensation claims, you may benefit from professional representation. Free representation is sometimes available through the Free Representation Unit (FRU) or Citizens Advice.

Costs and fees

Since the landmark Supreme Court ruling in R (Unison) v Lord Chancellor [2017], it is free to file an employment tribunal claim. There are no issue fees or hearing fees. ACAS Early Conciliation is also free.

Employment tribunals generally operate on a no costs basis — each side pays their own legal costs, win or lose. The tribunal will not normally order you to pay the other side's costs. Costs orders are only made in exceptional circumstances: if your claim had no reasonable prospect of success, was conducted vexatiously or unreasonably, or you failed to comply with tribunal orders.

This means you can bring a genuine claim with minimal financial risk, even against a large employer with expensive lawyers.

Remedies

If you win your case, the tribunal can order several types of remedy:

Compensation
The most common remedy. For unfair dismissal, this includes a basic award (calculated like redundancy pay) and a compensatory award (covering actual financial loss, capped at £115,115 or 52 weeks' gross pay). For discrimination, there is no cap and the tribunal can also award compensation for injury to feelings.
Reinstatement
The tribunal orders your employer to give you your old job back on the same terms. This is rare in practice — tribunals recognise that the employment relationship is often irreparably damaged.
Re-engagement
The tribunal orders your employer to employ you in a comparable role but not necessarily the same job. Like reinstatement, this is uncommon but available.

You have a duty to mitigate your loss — you must make reasonable efforts to find new employment. If you do not, the tribunal may reduce your compensation. Keep records of every job application you make.

📞 Key contacts
ACAS Early Conciliation: 0300 123 1100 (free)
Employment Tribunal: gov.uk/employment-tribunals
Citizens Advice: citizensadvice.org.uk

Not sure what applies to you?

Tell Vera what happened — get a step-by-step action plan for your situation. Free and confidential.

General legal information only — not legal advice. For specific situations, contact ACAS or consult a qualified employment solicitor.