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Employment Tribunal Enforcement
Understanding the complexities of Tribunal Enforcement & Appeals to enforce Employment Tribunal judgments is crucial to being able to receiving the final outcome. We work closely with clients to navigate the appeals and enforcement process effectively.
We provide comprehensive advice on the options available for enforcing judgments, such as obtaining a County Court Judgment (CCJ) or using enforcement officers to recover the debt.
What happens when I win my case?
If you win an employment tribunal case, you will receive a written Judgment. The Respondent will have usually 14 days for payment to be made, unless the Respondent asked for 28 days to pay at trial.
If the Respondent fails to pay, you can ask the Tribunal to have them fined and named publicly.
The Respondent will get a warning notice from the Tribunal giving them 28 days to pay you. If they still don’t pay they will be fined and may be named by the government.
As we have explained about the difference between and civil court and tribunal, the latter does not have any power to enforce the Judgment. An application has to be made to the civil court to be able to apply for a write of control for enforcement through the High Court. We have preferred Enforcement Officers who work with us to ensure recovery of the sums awarded to you. However, where a Limited company is concerned, if they go into liquidation which means they are unable to pay their debts, there are limited options as a Tribunal Judgment will not override secured debts against the company. There are options as follows:-
Applying to the Registry Trust Ltd - here
ACAS and Employment Tribunal Fast Track - here
Claiming from the National Insurance Fund - here
If your employer is insolvent and your employment has been terminated, the National Insurance Fund (NIF) guarantees payment of a basic minimum of certain employment debts. This includes:
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up to 8 weeks’ arrears of pay (capped at current weekly maximum statutory limit)
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holiday pay
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up to 6 weeks’ notice pay
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a statutory redundancy payment (capped at the weekly current maximum statutory limit)
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a protective award.
You can make a claim from the NIF online, please click
Payment from the NIF does not prevent you from claiming from the insolvent estate as well e.g. debts which are not guaranteed by the NIF or debts in excess of the amounts guaranteed by the NIF. Therefore, you should make claims from both the NIF and the insolvent estate to maximise your chances of recovering some of the debts owed.
Claiming from the HM Revenue & Customs - here
If your employer becomes insolvent, liability passes to HM Revenue & Customs from the date of the formal insolvency for:
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unpaid statutory sick pay
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statutory maternity pay
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statutory paternity pay
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statutory adoption pay
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statutory shared parental pay.
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Claiming from the Pension Protection Fund - here
If your employer becomes insolvent, the Pension Protection Fund may also pay out compensation to members of a defined benefit scheme whose pensions have been affected by a participating employer’s insolvency.
Employment Appeal Tribunal
What options do I have to Appeal against an
Employment Tribunal Judgment?
Employment Tribunal judgments may be changed only:
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if the tribunal decides, at the request of either party or on its own initiative to reconsider the judgment
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after an appeal by one of the parties (see below)
Requesting Reconsideration
You can apply to the tribunal to ask it to reconsider a judgment. On reconsideration the original decision may be confirmed, varied or revoked. If it is revoked it may be taken again.
You can apply to have the judgment reconsidered orally at the end of the hearing or within 14 days of the date on which the judgment was sent to you by the tribunal office or within 14 days of the date on which the written reasons were sent (if later).
Your application for a reconsideration of the judgment must, unless it was made in the course of the hearing, be made in writing and must be copied to all the other parties.
An Employment Judge may extend the time limit for making an application for a reconsideration of a judgment.
In your application you must set out why it would be in the interests of justice for the original decision to be reconsidered. Your application will be considered by the Employment Judge who heard the case who may refuse it if they think there is no reasonable prospect of the judgment being varied or revoked.
If the application is not refused, it will be sent to the other parties, who will be asked for their views on whether the application can be dealt with by the Judge without a hearing. Once replies are received the Judge will decide whether your application for a reconsideration of the judgment requires a hearing. If it does, you will be notified when and where to attend in due course.
A tribunal will only reconsider any judgment where it is necessary in the interests of justice to do so. The interests of justice do not mean a judgment or decision will be reconsidered just because you disagree with it. Something must have gone wrong at or in connection with the hearing or something has happened since the hearing which makes the judgment or decision unjust. If you apply for a reconsideration based on new evidence you must explain why the evidence was not available before and include a full statement of the evidence which you want to introduce. The Tribunal has the power to refuse to reconsider the judgment, confirm it, vary it or revoke it.
An application for reconsideration does not change the time limit for making an appeal and you may appeal while waiting for the result of the application.
Appeal against the tribunal’s judgment
If you believe that the Tribunal has reached the wrong judgment because it has made an error of law, you can appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT).
The grounds for appeal may be that:
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the tribunal has made a mistake in the application of the law
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the judgment was one which no reasonable tribunal could have reached
You can get an appeal form from:
Employment Appeal Tribunal
7 Rolls Buildings
Fetter Lane
London
EC4A 1NL
Or, in Scotland from:
Employment Appeal Tribunal
George House
126 George Street
Edinburgh
EH2 4HH
If you have any questions about the appeal you should address them to the Registrar of the EAT. You can also get appeal forms and general information about the EAT here.
You must send a copy of any claim and response, the tribunal judgment and the written reasons for the judgment with your notice of appeal or an explanation as to why any missing document is not included.
You must serve a valid notice of appeal on the EAT at:
Employment Appeal Tribunal
7 Rolls Buildings
Fetter Lane
London
EC4A 1NL
Or, in Scotland from:
Employment Appeal Tribunal
George House
126 George Street
Edinburgh
EH2 4HH
What are the time limits?
Requesting written reasons - You should make your request for written reasons for your judgment at the hearing or within 14 days of the date on which the judgment was sent to the parties. That request should be made to the tribunal office which sent the judgment.
Making an Appeal - There are strict time limits, which you must observe, for making any appeal.
Where the judgment contains written reasons you must appeal within 42 days of the date on which the judgment was sent to you.
Where the judgment does not contain written reasons you should request them from the tribunal within 14 days of the date on which the judgment was sent to you and you must then appeal within 42 days of the date on which the written reasons are sent to you.
Where the judgment does not contain written reasons and you do not request them within 14 days of the date on which the judgment was sent to you, you must appeal within 42 days of the date on which the judgment was sent to you with an explanation as to why you have not obtained written reasons.
For example, if this date was a Wednesday, the EAT must receive your appeal no later than 4pm on the Wednesday 42 days (6 weeks) later. You must get your appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal (not the employment tribunal office) in plenty of time before the end of the 42 day period, particularly if you choose to send your notice of appeal by post as you must allow for postal delays.
If you have not received an acknowledgement from the EAT within 7 days of posting the notice of appeal, you should contact the EAT to confirm they have received your appeal.
In England and Wales:
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phone: 020 7273 1041
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fax: 01264 785 028
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email: Londoneat@justice.gov.uk
In Scotland:
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phone 0131 225 3963
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fax 01264 785 030
What is the relevance of the Reconsideration to an Appeal?
An application for reconsideration does not change or extend the 42 day time limit for appealing. If you apply to the tribunal to reconsider its judgment, you may also appeal to the Employment Appeal Tribunal. You must also lodge with the Employment Appeal Tribunal a copy of the application for reconsideration and, if such application has been heard and determined, then also a copy of the tribunal’s judgment on the reconsideration application. When you have made an appeal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal may want to examine documents or other exhibits produced in evidence at the hearing.
The tribunal normally destroys files within one year of sending the judgment to the people involved but if there is an appeal the file will be kept for longer.
We can assist with requesting a reconsideration and making an Appeal as well as represent you at any hearing to deal with your Tribunal claim.