Employment tribunal costs: what you will actually pay

Ask what an employment tribunal costs and you will get two wrong answers. The first is that it is expensive to bring a claim, a hangover from the fees regime that was scrapped in 2017. The second is that because there are no fees, a tribunal costs nothing. The truth sits in between, and it is different for employees and employers.

Tribunal fees: abolished, and staying abolished

Between 2013 and 2017, claimants had to pay up to £1,200 in issue and hearing fees. Claims fell off a cliff, the Supreme Court ruled the fees unlawful, and they were abolished. Issuing a claim today costs nothing, and there is no realistic prospect of fees returning soon.

So when people talk about the cost of a tribunal, they mean everything around the claim itself.

The real cost for employees: legal help and your own time

You can bring a claim without a solicitor, and the tribunal process is designed to be accessible. But most employees who can afford it take advice at key points, and the typical shapes are:

• One-off advice. A review of your case and your prospects, often a fixed fee in the low hundreds of pounds. For many people this is the only spend that matters.
• Help at specific stages. Drafting the ET1, preparing your schedule of loss, reviewing witness statements or coaching you before the hearing.
• Full representation. A solicitor running the claim end to end, usually the most expensive option and priced in the thousands for a case that reaches a final hearing.

Our guide to employment solicitor costs breaks down typical fee structures, including no win no fee arrangements, which some firms offer for stronger claims.

Then there is the cost nobody invoices you for: the months the process takes, the evenings spent on documents, and the toll of reliving a bad experience in formal settings. That cost is real, and it is one reason early, honest advice on your prospects is worth so much.

Can the other side be made to pay?

Usually not. The tribunal system works on the principle that each side bears its own costs. Cost orders exist, but they are reserved for cases where a party has behaved unreasonably, vexatiously or brought a claim with no reasonable prospect of success. They are the exception, not the rule.

Two things are worth knowing:

• Deposit orders. If a judge thinks part of your claim has little reasonable prospect of success, they can require a deposit of up to £1,000 to continue with it. Persist and lose, and the deposit can go towards the other side's costs.
• Preparation time orders. Where the other party is not legally represented, they can apply for an order covering their preparation time instead of legal costs, on the same unreasonableness test.

The practical effect: you should not start a claim expecting the employer to pay your costs if you win, and you should not be put off by the fear of paying theirs if you lose, unless your claim is genuinely hopeless.

The real cost for employers

For employers the arithmetic is harsher, because defending a claim properly takes management time and legal spend even when the defence succeeds:

• Legal fees. A defended unfair dismissal claim through to a final hearing commonly runs into five figures once counsel is included. Discrimination claims with longer hearings cost more.
• Management time. Disclosure, witness statements and hearing attendance pull managers and HR out of the business for days at a time.
• The award itself if you lose. Compensation for ordinary unfair dismissal is capped, but discrimination awards are not.
• Reputational cost. Tribunal judgments are published online. Customers, staff and future hires can read them.

This is why commercial employers settle defensible claims every week: the settlement is frequently cheaper than a successful defence. Our tribunal defence for employers page explains how our panel firms approach that calculation.

How to keep the bill under control

• Get advice early, not late. An hour of advice before you resign, dismiss or issue a claim is the cheapest advice you will ever buy.
• Take settlement seriously. Most claims settle. A sensible early offer through ACAS or a settlement agreement usually beats the fully-litigated outcome on both sides once time and risk are priced in.
• Ask for fixed fees at each stage. A good employment solicitor can price the ET1, the preparation and the hearing separately, so you stay in control of spend.
• Be honest about your case. The fastest way to run up costs is to pursue a weak claim, or defend a bad one, because you are angry rather than because it makes sense.

Weighing up the cost of your own situation?

We can match you with a specialist employment solicitor within 24 hours who will tell you plainly what your case is worth and what it will cost. Free, confidential, no obligation.

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