Employment Tribunals

3. The Hearing

Employment tribunal hearings are less formal than the courts. The running order is not necessarily fixed and belligerent questioning will be stopped. But the hearing will still be purposeful, with an emphasis on clarity, evidence and the merits of the case.

3.1 The hearing is public and open to the press.

• The employer generally goes first in an unfair dismissal case and the applicant goes first in a discrimination case.
• If you do not turn up, the case is likely to go against you. If ill, send a medical certificate and ask for an adjournment.

3.2 Tribunals have their own rules, quite different from those in the courts.

• Evidence is assessed on the balance of probabilities. You do not have to prove anything 'beyond reasonable doubt'.

3.3 When it comes to the main evidence in the hearing, tribunals prefer witnesses, who can be questioned under oath, to written statements on their own.

The tribunal will itself generally question witnesses, in an informal manner.

• Do not have too many witnesses. Use your witness statements to establish straightforward facts.
• Provide witnesses to the main events.
• If you are cross-examined, remain cool, factual and polite.
• Bring in a senior company representative to explain your employment policies.
• Expert witnesses are rare in tribunals. Use one if the case turns on a technical point.
• In general, avoid character witnesses.
• Witness orders can be used by either side to compel witnesses to attend.

3.4 The two sides usually pay their own costs .

• Applicants cannot obtain legal aid, except to help in preparing a claim.
• If the applicant belongs to a trade union, it may advise and represent him or her.