Help with the tribunal application

Who should apply to the tribunal?

If you do decide to proceed with the claim you need to be sure that you are following the correct procedure, if it was a group redundancy then the following people should make claims on behalf of everybody they represented:-

• The union if you were represented by one
• The elected reps (if the process of appointing reps took place)

Only if the above don’t apply, or only you were made redundant, should you make an individual claim as otherwise your claim will be struck out.

The ET1 tribunal application process

The process for applying to the tribunal is quite straightforward via an online process, or you can submit via an ET1 pdf form. The process takes 20-30 minutes and a fee no longer applies since July 2017.

Keep a copy of your tribunal application, you can save the ET1 form as a pdf at the end of the application, plus any email confirmation received, as you have to be able to prove you applied in the time limits.

• An explanation of the detail and the actual online process is here
• We now strongly recommend claiming online rather than via a pdf claim form, as you submit all relevant details and get a case number immediatley

The online process takes you through a series of questions about the type of claim – single or group – how many people the claim is for, what the reason is (redundancy – in this case) and whether you’re claiming from the RPS government fund.

The rest of the process is about your personal details, your earnings and benefits, details of group claimants and the circumstances around the claim.

What details should I put on the ET1 form?

It is very important to ensure that you fill in the claim details correctly; selecting the relevant sections only (only consultation claims should be brought against insolvent companies), as submitting a claim incorrectly, or too late may mean your case is struck out. If this happens your application will effectively be over.

The claim needs to have the correct respondent; this is the trading name of the company that employed you, not an individual or the name of the administrator if the company is in administration.

You should state that you bringing a claim for lack of proper consultation under section 188 and / or 189 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA). It should set out the details of your claim and what parts of the process the company did not adhere to. These should be set out with dates, times and circumstances.

Different sections of the act cover different company obligations, e.g. lack of; elected reps, selection process, minimising redundancies. (Use the links for detailed information about sections 188 and 189)

We strongly recommend taking legal advice on the detail of the Et1 form tribunal application process