It is a statutory obligation that an Employee receiving a settlement agreement should have independent legal advice from a relevant legal adviser. Usually, the Employer should be contributing to the cost of you receiving that advice.

At present, there are no court fees for bringing a claim to the Employment Tribunal. If you require the assistance of a solicitor in reviewing, advising or preparing your claim then there would be charges associated with this service

For some claims, you must have a minimum service to be able to bring a claim against your Employer such as an ordinary unfair dismissal claims but there are other types of claims for which you have day one rights to bring a claim, such as discrimination.

This very much depends on the type of claim you are bringing. There are different heads of loss which are recoverable for different claims such as basic and compensatory awards as well as injury to feelings in some types of claims. The amount that you can recover varies widely and will take in a number of factors including (but not limited to) your age, how long you were employed, how long it takes you to find new employment and the effect actions may have had on you.

Whilst there are only a number of policies which are legal requirements for Employers to have, we always recommend that Employers have certain key policies in place including disciplinary, grievance, family leave policies and data protection. We have certain package offers that we can provide to our Employer clients to ensure they remain compliant and up to date with the ever changing legal landscape.

This depends on the changes the Employer is proposing to make and any clauses in the contract that may allow them to do so. We would also consider the impact that this is likely to have on any Employees. Not getting it right can leave the employer vulnerable to several types of claims against them, which could be costly.

If you have been through an ACAS early conciliation process in contemplation of bringing a Tribunal claim, it does not mean you cannot make attempts to settle a claim prior to (and including during) a final hearing. ACAS can always come back on board to help finalise any settlements that are made but we would recommend getting legal advice on settlements where possible.

Whilst there are certain claims Employers may be able to bring in civil courts (such as breaches of restrictive covenants), with one exception in relation to the Transfer of  Undertakings (TUPE) Regulations, Employers cannot bring a claim in their own right in the Employment Tribunal. Employers can only make counter claims when employees bring contract claims against the Employer.

Whilst applications can be made for the recovery of costs in the Employment Tribunal, it is not an automatic right, and it is quite difficult to recover costs and remains the exception rather than the rule. You would have to demonstrate that the other party has acted vexatiously, abusively, disruptively or otherwise unreasonably in the brining of proceedings or in how proceedings have been conducted.

There are only a few legally fair reasons for which an employee can be dismissed and an Employer would have to show that the reason for dismissal falls within one of those reasons. If you have not been dismissed for a legally fair reason (and you have the requisite service), you may be able to bring an unfair dismissal claim against your Employer.