Employment Tribunal – Employers

Where a resolution cannot be reached and your employees lodge an employment claim we will advise the company on defending the claim and support you in the tribunal process.

No claim is exactly the same and our fees reflect your particular requirements. The length and complexity of legal proceedings is uncertain and will depend on the circumstances of the claim. At ACUMEN BUSINESS LAW our service starts with a free initial meeting to fully brief us on the matter, understand the issues. After this meeting we will give you an estimate of the likely costs involved. As with all contentious matters it is not possible to predict all the work which will become necessary but we will give you estimates at each stage. All work is carried out in accordance with our hourly rate of £270 (+VAT). Where possible we will provide you with a fixed fee.

We have set out below an estimate of the costs which may be incurred for defending an employment claim for unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal.

Our initial consultation and exploratory meeting with you is free of charge.

The next step would be to assess the company’s legal position and advise you on the defence and next steps. We would estimate 4-6 hours time (equating to £1080 – £1620 (+VAT)) to do this.

Thereafter, we will draft the defence form. This will take approximately 3-4 hours equating to £810 – £1080 (+ VAT).

To prepare for a hearing we will have to consider the following;

• A Preliminary hearing to answer initial matters which include if the claim is in time or other jurisdiction issues. We estimate this will take 2 – 4 hours equating to £540 – £1080 (+VAT) for preparation of the preliminary hearing. It is usually more cost effective to instruct a barrister to attend the hearing and the estimated costs range between £540 – £1080 (+VAT).

• Preparation and draft witness statements. This will depend on the number of witnesses and if we will draft the statements for your witnesses. If you provide initial drafts for us to review and amend this will lower the costs. We estimate that a review of each witness statement will take between 1 – 5 hours (depending on the length and detail of each statement) equating to between £270 to £1350 (+VAT). If you require us to draft the witness statement for you we estimate that this will take between 2 – 7 hours equating to between £540 to £1890 (+VAT) depending on the complexity of each statement.

• Both parties are required to disclosure documents they wish to rely on at court, although it usually falls to the employer to prepare a bundle of documents as they often have access to the relevant materials, although this is not always the case. Depending on the amount of documentation involved, we estimate ensuring the bundle is complete will take 5 – 8 hours equating to between £1350 to £2160 (+ VAT).

• It is often more cost effective to instruct a barrister to attend a court hearing and we will provide concise instructions to them. We estimate drafting instructions to counsel will take approximately 4 – 6 hours equating to £1080 to £1350 (+ VAT).

• Hearings for unfair dismissal are normally scheduled for one day. The cost to instruct a barrister is likely to be approximately £1500 (+VAT) per day.

Throughout the proceedings there is scope for negotiation and settlement and the claim can be settled up to and even during the hearing. Throughout the matter we will take active steps to consider settlement and work to secure the best commercial outcome for the company. Any time spent on settlement negotiations will be charged at our hourly rate and, depending on the negotiations, we estimate this could take 3 – 5 hours equating to £810 – £1350 (+VAT).

All further work, such as dealing with correspondence from claimant or the court, will be charged in accordance with our hourly rate. We will always inform you of any additional costs and seek your authorisation prior to incurring any additional charges.