Employment Tribunals – 10 key facts

1. There are two forms of Employment Tribunal in Northern Ireland: the Fair Employment Tribunal and the Industrial Tribunal, the former hearing claims of discrimination and the latter hearing other claims such as unfair dismissal.
2. A tribunal panel is made up of two lay members and a legally qualified chairperson.
3. A claim to an employment tribunal by an employee will be made on an ET1 form (formerly known as an IT1) and must be presented within 3 months from the date of dismissal. The Employer then lodges a defence on an ET3 form (formerly known as an IT3) within 28 days of the date the ET1 form is sent out to them by the Tribunal.
4. The Labour Relations Agency offers a conciliation service which, on the agreement of both parties, can be used to reach a settlement.
5. An employee can claim for compensation only, reinstatement, re-engagement, or both compensation and reinstatement / re-engagement.
6. The tribunals use a case-management system to improve the administration of cases by hearing case-management discussions (CMDs) before the date of hearing to which both parties attend and often issues such as adjournment, witness orders and additional information and discovery are often dealt with.
7. At hearing, the clerk calls the case and the person on whom the burden of proof lies commences the proceedings. The standard of proof in an Employment Tribunal is "on the balance of probabilities" and not "beyond reasonable doubt".
8. Witnesses are questioned under oath and in a manner similar to ordinary courts. Examination and Cross-examination also takes place in the Tribunal.
9. The tribunal then issues a decision after the hearing in writing to all parties. All decisions are available online at www.employmenttribunalsni.co.uk.
10. In an employment tribunal, each party bears their own costs and it is the exception rather than the rule that costs are awarded by a tribunal panel. Chairs/tribunals have a duty to consider making costs orders and having considered it, have discretion to make an order if considered appropriate to do so.

If you have any further queries in relation to Employment Tribunals, please contact our Seamus McGranaghan, John Finnegan or Shauna McAleese for further information.