Employment Tribunal Fees

Employment Tribunal

Our pricing for bringing and defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal:

Our hourly rates range from £190.00 to £235.00 plus VAT at 20%.  Full details of individuals’ charge out rate are included in the confirmation of instructions that are sent to you following instruction.  Cases are charged at an hourly rate on a time recorded basis.

It is difficult to estimate how many hours of work will be necessary to complete the matter until the facts of the case are discussed with you but on average are in the region of:

Simple case: £1,500.00 – £4,000.00 plus VAT at 20%

Medium complexity case: £4,000.00 – £10,000.00 plus VAT at 20%

High complexity case: £10,000.00 upwards plus VAT at 20%

Factors that could make a case more complex:

  • if it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide information about an existing claim;
  • defending claims that are brought by litigants in person;
  • making or defending a costs application;
  • complex preliminary issues such as whether the client is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties);
  • the number of witnesses and documents;
  • if it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim, eg if you are dismissed after blowing the whistle on your employer;
  • allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, such as court fees. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process but we do require you to pay us for the disbursements in advance.

Counsel’s fees for the Barristers we typically instruct are estimated between £850.00 – £1,500.00 plus VAT at 20% per day (depending on experience of the advocate) for attending a Tribunal Hearing (including preparation).  If you wish to have a more experienced Barrister his/her fees will be higher and we would negotiate these on your behalf.

Proof of Identity

In order to comply with anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and counter-proliferation financing requirements and as part of our “Know Your Client” due diligence process, we invite clients to complete and submit their identification documentation via our third party online provider, InfoTrack.  This will be at a cost of £20 plus VAT per person (total £24.00 per search) which will be charged by us at the start of your matter.

Key stages

The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the key stages of a claim:

  • taking your initial instructions, reviewing the papers and advising you on merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout the matter and subject to change);
  • entering into pre-claim conciliation where this is mandatory to explore whether a settlement can be reached;
  • preparing claim or response;
  • reviewing and advising on claim or response from other party;
  • exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout the process;
  • preparing for and considering a schedule of loss;
  • preparing for (and attending) a Preliminary Hearing;
  • exchanging documents with the other party and agreeing a bundle of documents;
  • taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses;
  • preparing bundle of documents;
  • reviewing and advising on the other party’s witness statements;
  • agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list;
  • preparation and attendance at Final Hearing, including instructions to Counsel.

The stages set out above are an indication and if some of the stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged on your individual needs.

How long will my application take?

The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 1 – 8 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take  26 – 52 weeks. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.  The listing of a Final Hearing will be subject to the Court’s listing and parties’ availability.

Patrick Nelson deals with Employment Tribunal matters.