Government have launched Employment Tribunal fee refund scheme
Following the ruling in July this year which saw the Supreme Court rule employment tribunal fees as unlawful, the Government is now ready to start repaying the thousands of people that were charged.
The ruling, which was heralded as possibly the biggest employment law decision ever in the UK, saw the Supreme Court unanimously ruling that the Government was acting unlawfully when they introduced the fees back in 2013. Fees of up to £1,200 were introduced resulting in a dramatic fall from 5,847 employment tribunal cases the year before the fees were introduced, to 1,740 the following year.
The first steps
The first stage of the refund process will see up to around 1,000 people contacted individually and invited to complete their forms before the full scheme is opened up in the coming weeks. The Government is also working with Trade Unions who have supported large multiple claims, potentially involving hundreds of claimants.
People who were ordered by the Tribunal to reimburse their opponent their fee and who can show that they have paid it are also eligible to apply for a refund under the scheme.
Successful applicants to the scheme will be refunded their full fee and will also be paid interest of 0.5% calculated from the date of the payment right up to the date of the refund.
The opening phase of the refund scheme will last for around 4 weeks. Further details of the scheme will be made available once the scheme is rolled out fully.
For further details please see gov.uk
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