Be prepared
Visit a Tribunal beforehand
You can sit in and watch a Tribunal hearing. They are open to the public. Ring the Tribunal and ask when there will be a convenient hearing for you to attend. Ask for a hearing where the claimant is not represented if possible. If you end up with a hearing watching representatives conduct the case, don’t worry that you don’t understand the legal jargon they use; or if the Judge gives one a hard time.
The Tribunal will make allowances for an unrepresented party, and should treat you differently Just sit in the back, and watch for as long as you like. In a big Tribunal centre, where there are a number of Tribunals, you can sample 2 or 3 hearings, to get a feel for how they are conducted.
If your hearing will be remote, on Zoom or the Tribunal platform, ask for a login to enable you to watch a a hearing from home. On the day, don’t go on your own. Take a friend, for company and a bit of support. There is often a lot of hanging around.
Check you have your Tribunal papers ready. Plan to get there an hour beforehand. The clerks are helpful and will show you where to go.
Ask them about any personal issues – breaks, language ( have you asked for an interpreter?), diet, parking …. You can ask them to let you know when the other side arrive ,and who is there for them.
Prepare for the Unexpected
The employer doesn’t turn up – ask the Tribunal to go ahead in their absence. The clerk tells you there has to be an adjournment- there is no Judge available! Nothing you can do, but make sure they fix another date there and then. And don’t let the anti climax lull you into agreeing a settlement with employer, just to get it over with: see below!
The employer gives you a large set of papers before the hearing starts – what you have been asking for! Take them, but do not agree to their use. Tell the Tribunal you have had no time to look at them, analyse them, or prepare your answer to them. Ask for time – at least an hour – to go through them properly and see what you agree, and disagree. Are they even genuine? You can’t be sure without checking carefully. So ask for at least an hour.
Negotiating at the last minute!
The employer offers to settle: do not accept the offer. Even if it is all you are asking for. Remember :this is the employer that cheated you in the first place, and have maintained their lies all the way to the hearing. You have several options. They include these 5:
1. Ask for more,
They clearly want to settle, and want to avoid a formal Tribunal judgment; so may well be prepared to pay more. As with any negotiation, don’t take the first offer.
2. No confidentiality
Don’t agree to terms about confidentiality. Negotiate about them. They will want you to agree not to tell anyone, but reporting them to other employees, or to the Regulator, (the Inland Revenue), is a powerful negotiating weapon. They have to pay if they want confidentiality. That is why they don’t want a Tribunal Judgment against them: it is a public document, available for all to see.
3. Judgment by Consent
If they are offering full payment, tell them you will agree to a Judgment by Consent from the Tribunal for the full amount, but do not agree to a private settlement. If, later, the employer does not actually pay you, it is much easier to enforce the Tribunal Judgement than a private settlement (and employers – especially ones who cheat their employees – are often bad payers.)
4. Settle for Cash, not a promise to pay.
Tell the employer you will only settle for Cash – bundles of notes. Say you are willing to ask the Tribunal for an hour’s adjournment and you will go with the employer to the bank. Don’t settle for less than cash – or an immediate Bank Transfer. A promise to pay is just that: you may never get the money. You have the advantage in this situation. They will tell you that you are being unreasonable and unrealistic, but they are the ones who have cheated you and filed a false defence at the Tribunal. Why
trust them now? Ask for cash: go to their Bank; or an internet bank transfer: you can check receipt on your phone. You may be surprised by how cash can be produced when the chips are down.
5. Refuse all offers and start the Tribunal:
This may be the best. Tell the clerk you are being hassled by their lawyers, and want to see the Judge, to start the hearing. This is itself a powerful tool. You are prepared for the hearing, the employer wants to avoid it. You have the upper hand. But their lawyers are used to the Tribunal , and will have arguments and documents ready for you to sign, and will pressure you to sign them. They will tell you that you risk a costs award against you if you don’t reach a settlement. Nonsense. You are at the Tribunal anyway: they are the ones who have wasted everyone’s time by delaying an offer to settle to the last minute. Tell them you will be making your own cots application – against them! You do not have to agree to anything. Just tell the clerk you do not wish to be hassled by their lawyers any more. You want to start the hearing.