Transparency Rules – Employment tribunals (claims & defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal) - Williamsons Solicitors Skip to main content

Transparency Rules – Employment tribunals (claims & defending claims for unfair or wrongful dismissal)

If you have been employed for 2 continuous years or more and you have been unfairly or wrongfully dismissed or if you have been notified of such a claim by an ex employee, Williamsons Solicitors can assist you.

The Service

The charges set out below apply to claims to Employment Tribunals for making and contesting claims for unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal.

Making a claim – Individuals

  • Taking your instructions, consideration of the evidence including legal advice we will charge £380 plus VAT.  With any new client we will require a face to face meeting before deciding whether to act
  • The cost of preparing a letter of claim will be £190 plus VAT.  The usual time for responding to the letter of claim is up to 21 days.
  • If the former employer disputes the claim or the amount, we will advise you on the prospects of success, the next steps and likely cost. The next first step is likely to be a reference to ACAS to attempt Early Reconciliation.
  • If the case is settled before Employment Tribunal proceedings are issued, the charges you have incurred will not be recoverable from the former employer unless they agree.
  • If it becomes necessary to commence Employment Tribunal proceedings, where the former employer has failed to respond to the letter of claim and the ACAS Early Reconciliation has failed, our charges for preparing the Employment Tribunal Application including consideration of any response from the former employer will be £400.00 plus VAT. If you ask us to instruct a Barrister to prepare the Employment Tribunal Claim, we will obtain a quotation for the Barrister’s fees in advance.
  • There are currently no fees payable to commence an application to an Employment Tribunal.
  • Apart from particular exceptional circumstances, the Employment Tribunals proceed on the basis that each side will pay their own costs so even if you are successful, our charges will not be recoverable from the opposition.
  • If the former employer does not respond to a claim by the deadline, an application for a Default Judgement can be made and the cost of making that application will be £200.00 plus VAT. If the application for Default Judgement results in the Employment Tribunal fixing a date for a hearing for a decision on remedies involving an attendance before the Employment Tribunal, then if the hearing is in our locality, our charges for attending the hearing will be £600.00 plus VAT. If it becomes necessary to instruct a Barrister, we will obtain an estimate of the Barrister’s fees.
  • If your former employer files a response to your claim, we will then advise you on the next steps required to take the claim to a final hearing and the likely costs.

 

Defending a Claim – Individuals and Businesses

  • Taking your instructions, consideration of the evidence including legal advice our charge will be £500 plus VAT.  With any new client we will require a face to face meeting before deciding whether to act
  • The cost of preparing a letter rejecting the claim will be £190.00 plus VAT. The usual time for responding to the letter of claim is 21 days.
  • If you dispute the claim, we will advise you on your prospects of success, the next steps and likely cost and the next likely step is to receive correspondence from ACAS under its early reconciliation scheme. Our charge for dealing with the ACAS Early Reconciliation Scheme will be £190.00 plus VAT.
  • If the claim is settled before Employment Tribunal proceedings are issued, the charges the Claimant has incurred will not be recoverable from you unless you agree and the charges you have incurred will not be recoverable from the Claimant.
  • If Employment Tribunal proceedings are commenced, our charges for preparing the response including consideration of all matters raised by the Claimant will be £500.00 plus VAT. If you ask us to instruct a Barrister to prepare the Employment Tribunal response, we will obtain a quotation for the Barrister’s fees in advance.
  • Apart from particular exceptional circumstances, the Employment Tribunals proceed on the basis that each side will pay their own costs so even if you are successful, our charges will not be recoverable from the opposition.
  • Once notified by the Employment Tribunal that a response has been accepted, we can then advise you on the next steps required to take the claim to a final hearing and the likely cost.