Employment tribunal fee refund scheme rolls out

The employment tribunal fee refund scheme is now fully open, following a successful four-week implementation phase.

The refund scheme and the abolition of employment tribunal fees are the result of a Supreme Court decision which found that the fee regime was unlawful.

The refund scheme applies to anyone who paid employment tribunal fees between 29 July 2013 and 26 July 2017. An application is made by completing one of three forms, depending on the circumstances of the original case:

Dominic Raab, Minister of State for Justice, outlined the refund regime in a written statement last month. He explained that all applications would be verified against HM Court & Tribunal Service’s records. Where people are unable to provide full details of the fees paid, or the details do not align, the application will not be automatically refused, but it may take longer to process.

‘Where a person is claiming for fees that they reimbursed to their opponent pursuant to a Tribunal Order, they will be asked to provide a copy of the Tribunal Order, and proof of payment,’ commented Raab. ‘In cases where a person reimbursed their opponent under a private settlement, they will not be eligible for a refund; in such cases, the person who paid the fee to the Tribunal will be eligible for a refund.’

Although the tribunal fee regime has been abolished, the government has not completely ruled out introducing an alternative scheme.

In its judgment, the Supreme Court stated: ‘Fees paid by litigants can, in principle, reasonably be considered to be a justifiable way of making resources available for the justice system and so securing access to justice.’ As such, during a justice select committee meeting last month, Lord Chancellor David Lidington confirmed that the government was still intending to charge a fee.