Employment Law Cases

Tribunal refund scheme opens

A refund scheme for those who’ve paid employment tribunal fees has been launched.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision in July 2017 that such fees were unlawful, the government undertook to introduce a scheme whereby fees would be reimbursed to those who had paid them.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) have now launched the fee reimbursement scheme. There is currently no public announcement on how they intend to deal with claims which were not accepted or were dismissed for failure to pay a fee.

The opening phase of the scheme will last for 4 weeks and full details of the scheme will be made available when it is fully rolled out. At this stage, up to around 1,000 people will be contacted individually and given the chance to apply for a refund before the full scheme is opened up in the coming weeks. The MoJ and HMCTS are also working with trade unions in relation to large multiple claims. The press release states that successful applicants will be paid interest of 0.5%, calculated from the date of the original fee payment up until the refund date. Those who’ve paid a fee but who do not receive an invitation to take part in the initial stage can pre-register their interest in applying for reimbursement.