EMPLOYMENT LAW

Employment Tribunal Claims – Costs Information

This note contains details of our estimated fees for bringing or defending an Employment Tribunal claim for unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal.

Our fees will vary depending on the complexity of the case.  The figures below are by necessity “ballpark” estimates, because each case is different.  We always provide estimates specific to your case at the outset and continue providing updated estimates as your case develops.

Estimated fees for an employee bringing an unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal claim

Simple case Medium complexity case High complexity case
£7,000 to £18,000 plus VAT £10,000 to £24,000 plus VAT £20,000 to £50,000 plus VAT

Estimated fees for an employer defending a claim of unfair or wrongful dismissal

Simple case Medium complexity case High complexity case
£7,000 to £20,000 plus VAT £14,000 to £45,000 plus VAT £25,000 to £65,000 plus VAT

These figures exclude VAT, disbursements (i.e., third party costs) like barristers’ fees (see further below under “Disbursements”), expenses such as courier fees, travel costs and so on.

Various factors can make an Employment Tribunal claim more complicated.  These include:

  • If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim
  • Defending claims brought by litigants in person (i.e. someone representing themselves)
  • Making or defending a costs application
  • Dealing with disputed preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is an employee, or whether the claimant has a “disability” as defined in the Equality Act
  • The number of witnesses and documents
  • If a separate remedy hearing is required for the Employment Tribunal to decide on the appropriate award or remedy.

Note that the costs information above does not apply to claims in the County Court or High Court, or claims for anything other than, or in addition to, unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal.

The more complicated the claim is, the longer it will take to fully prepare for a final hearing and the longer the final hearing will generally last.  The above cost information is for straightforward cases without complicating factors, and assume a final hearing of no more than 1 to 2 days.  Final hearings in more complex cases could last 3 to 5 or more days, depending on matters such as the issues to be resolved, the volume of documents or number of witnesses.

Disbursements

Disbursements are payments we make on your behalf to external parties like barristers who advise and represent you at hearings. We ask you to make payment on account of any disbursements before we pay the third party.

  • Barrister’s fees can vary considerably depending on their level of qualification, the nature and complexity of the claim, and the length of the hearing. We would generally expect barrister’s fees to be about £3,000 to £5,000 plus VAT for preparation and to conduct the first day of the final hearing, plus £1,000 to £2,500 plus VAT for each subsequent day of the hearing. Separately, barristers may charge an hourly rate or a fixed fee to prepare for and conduct a preliminary hearing.  A fixed fee would usually be about £1,500 to £3,500 plus VAT depending on the length of the preliminary hearing, the complexity of the issues and the volume of documents to review. In addition, barristers usually charge at an hourly rate for a conference (meeting), advice on strategy, witness statements etc.  Hourly rates can vary considerably, but are usually around £250 to £450 plus VAT per hour (depending on experience). King’s Counsel’s (KC) fees would be significantly higher in all respects.
  • Independent expert reports such as medical reports will incur a fee, but are not always required in Employment Tribunal claims.
  • Travel/mileage costs are charged if we are attending interviews or meetings with you or witnesses away from our offices.

Key stages

As part of the work to bring or defend a claim for unfair and/or wrongful dismissal in the Employment Tribunal, covered by the cost information above, we will:

  • Discuss your circumstances in detail, take full instructions, and review the initial documents and information you provide
  • Consider the best strategy in your circumstances, and the options that may be available to you
  • Advise on the chances of successfully making or defending a claim
  • Advise on the merits and potential compensation that could be awarded (this will be reviewed on an ongoing basis as the matter develops and may be subject to change)
  • If you do not have a strong case/defence, we will advise on strategy to manage risk
  • Where necessary, help you to obtain additional information or evidence required, such as HR records or medical reports, and/or submit a Data Subject Access Request
  • Enter into pre-claim Acas Early Conciliation where this is mandatory, to explore whether a settlement can be reached
  • Prepare your claim/response to claim in relation to unfair dismissal and/or wrongful dismissal and once approved by you, submit it on your behalf
  • Review and advice on claim or response received from the other party
  • Explore settlement options on an ongoing basis
  • Prepare or consider a schedule of loss
  • Prepare and conduct, or instruct a barrister to conduct, a preliminary hearing (see above regarding barrister’s fees – our fees if we are conducting a preliminary hearing would add about £3,000 to £5,000 plus VAT)
  • Exchange documents with the other party and agree a bundle of documents for a final hearing
  • Take witness statements, draft statements and finalise them in conjunction with the witness and the barrister
  • Prepare bundle of documents for final hearing
  • Review and advise on the other party’s witness statements
  • Agree a list of issues, chronology and/or cast list
  • Instruct a barrister to conduct the final hearing
  • Prepare for an attend final hearing (and remedies hearing if any)

Timeframe

The time it takes from the time you first instruct us to final resolution of your claim will depend on how early we are involved in proceedings, and the stage at which your case is resolved.  If the case settles during Acas Early Conciliation, without the need to prepare an Employment Tribunal claim, your case is likely to take say 4 to 16 weeks from termination of employment.  If your claim proceeds to a final Employment Tribunal hearing, and bearing in mind the considerable delays in a claim progressing through Employment Tribunals, it might take 2 years from termination of employment, or even longer, depending on the length of the final merits hearing and how quickly it can be listed. If a separate remedies hearing is required, this will add more time before a final resolution.

Please note that all time and fee estimates are general estimates and not based on the specific facts of your case, which will be unique.  They are also subject to things like how long it takes to progress to a final hearing, which is dependant on the Employment Tribunal’s delays, and on how quickly other parties respond to communications.

Also, the above timeline does not include steps which may be taken prior to starting Acas Early Conciliation or starting an Employment Tribunal claim or preparing a Response to Claim.  Earlier steps might include dealing with a grievance or disciplinary procedure, redundancy procedure, or early negotiations to try to reach a settlement deal without the need to bring a claim.

The key stages set out above are also a generalised description and may be different in your case.  If some stages are not required, the fees would be lower.  If, say, more than one preliminary hearing was required, fees would be higher. You may wish to handle particular aspects of the claim yourself, however, we would still need full instructions and to be made fully aware of all developments, so as to be able to fully prepare any stages of work that we were instructed to deal with.  In our experience this does not necessarily reduce your fees.

Your fees will depend on the amount of time spent on your matter, so where we spend more time on your matter than average, or if more than average levels of communication are required, or if developments require us to spend additional time, your costs will reflect the time spent to provide the service to you.

Potential additional costs

We usually recommend that the solicitor dealing with your matter attends any preliminary hearings and at least the first day of the final hearing, in order to advise and assist the barrister, and also to be on hand to deal with any matters arising including any settlement negotiations. We charge a fixed fee to attend each full day of a hearing, of £1,500 to £3,000 plus VAT depending on the nature of the claim and the overall length of the hearing, and whether it is being held remotely or in person.  We would confirm such additional costs applicable to your case.

Tailored fee estimates

Whilst the above information is by necessity generalised, we always provide specific fee information at the start of a matter and on an ongoing basis as the matter proceeds.

Usually, we ask you to provide all relevant documents for the claim or potential claim, along with the documents and information we need to open a file for you.  At the point of opening a file, we will agree a fixed fee with you for the first stage of work, which is usually to review all relevant documents and advise on your position and options.  As part of that advice, we will also provide fee information as far as possible for the options we identify, so you can make an informed decision on how to proceed.

If things change unexpectedly, or become more complicated, or the chances of successfully making or defending the claim change, we would always provide updated costs information so you can decide how you wish to go from there.

Questions regarding costs

If you have any queries about the costs of bringing or defending an Employment Tribunal claim, please contact our specialist employment lawyers at employment@Qlaw.co.uk and we would be more than happy to discuss your particular circumstances and give you an idea of potential fees.  We can only provide accurate fee estimates when we have opened a file for you and conducted a full review of all relevant documents to advise on the nature and extent of the claim(s).

May 2024

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