Top tips for employers relating to Employment Tribunal Claims

Pre-emption: Ensure that your company has in place correct policies and procedures. If you have not done so, have a staff handbook drafted stating clearly redundancy, disciplinary and anti discrimination policies to be adopted.

Transparency: Ensure that written records are kept of all contentious issues, including minutes of meetings, verbal and written warnings and staff reviews.

Procedure: Ensure that you company has an up to date understanding of the correct procedure to be adopted for disciplinary, grievance and/or redundancy. Referral should be made to the ACAS code of conduct which also provides explanatory guides. If in doubt legal advice should be sought at an early stage rather than attempting to deal with the situation once breaches have taken place which may be too late.

Training: Ensure that staff are adequately trained as to their obligations in accordance with the ACAS code of practice and employment law provisions. Provide seminars and obtain feedback.

Costs: Consider whether your practice requires insurance to cover employment tribunal claims, costs and damages.

ACAS: utilise the service of ACAS at an early stage to attempt to resolve the matter. They will act as conciliators and may assist in reaching a settlement before employment tribunal proceedings proceed.

Witnesses: Obtain statements at an early stage from as many staff members as possible. This will ensure that they record events whilst they are fresh in their mind. Ensure that any confidentiality obligations are made known to staff when they are interviewed. Find out which witnesses will be able to attend the employment tribunal and make it clear that they will be cross examined on any issues they raise in their statements.

Drafting: Ensure that you draft a comprehensive defence (ET3) addressing all issues raised by the employee. Ensure that substantive witness statements are submitted to deal chronologically with the Employees case.