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We know that facing an employee grievance or Employment Tribunal claim is the last thing you, or your business needs.

Our job is to take some of the stress off your shoulders, help you take control of the situation and secure the best possible result. Below, we’ve set out not only the likely legal costs, but also what you can expect at each stage of the process, from exploring an early settlement through to defending an Employment Tribunal claim.  Contact us to discuss your situation.

We have extensive experience defending employers against Employment Tribunal (ET) claims. Our first question will nearly always be  “What is your overall objective”?

Often the objective is to defend the case and then look to settle it at the right opportunity. This means you can focus on your business rather than the distractions of an ET case which may take between 12  and 24 months or more to complete.

Employees are no longer required to pay any ET fees to bring a claim, making it easier for them to pursue proceedings. AI has made it easier than ever for employees to prepare and pursue ET claims at no cost with minimal time invovled. Employment Tribunal Judges are already attributing the growing volume and complexity of cases to its widespread use.

Where possible we aim to resolve disputes and settle before the claim is filed at the Employment Tribunal, saving you time, hassle, management resources and legal costs.

Settling a claim before Employment Tribunal proceedings.

Following our advice, early settlement can often be achieved through:

1. making settlement offers directly using Settlement Agreements to obtain an efficient settlement without wasting management time,
   or
2. engaging with ACAS through the Early Conciliation process between employer and employee, to achieve settlement before it becomes a more costly Employment Tribunal dispute.  (Employees must generally notify  ACAS before bringing an ET claim, but both employer and employee can choose whether to particpate in ACAS Early Conciliation). 
   or
3. using confidential and impartial Workplace Mediation with an independent mediator.  Read our article here which explains more about why and how Workplace Mediation can be highly effective at resolving disputes.

Our experienced team have settled over 3000 cases between them  using a combination of these and other approaches.

Even successfully defending an ET claim is very unlikely to result in the Tribunal Judge ordering your employee to pay your costs. This is another good reason to explore settlement where possible.

A typical scope of work for settling a claim at this stage would look like this:

Scope:

We Will

1. Ask you for your instructions and case details and documents,
2. Review your case details and documents,
3. Discuss any settlement amounts to be offered in the 1st settlement offer,
4. Prepare 1st draft settlement agreement for your review,
5. When you have reviewed this, produce the 1st draft settlement agreement including your comments to be sent back to your employee,
6. Advise you throughout the settlement negotiations until the case is settled.

Timescales:

Settlement negotiations which take place before an employee notifies ACAS  of a potential Employment Tribunal claim usually last between 2 and 4 weeks. During this period you should be prepared for the possibility that the employee may be absent from work, potentially on sick leave, or in the unlikely event they remain at work, that their productivity may be affected.

Once an employee notifies ACAS, the process can take considerably longer. Due to current demand ACAS  advises that it can take around 9 weeks from notification before a conciliator is assigned to the case and can begin contacting the parties to explore whether they are willing to negotiate a settement.  The time period ACAS has to failitate conciliation was extended from 6 to 12 weeks on 1 December 2025 due to pressure on the service.  Remember that employees generally have up to 6 months from the date they leave employment or the date of the detriment complained of, to file an ET claim. 

The point to note is that early settlement offers you as the employer greater control over the timing and resolution of a dispute.

Price: £1,500 to £5,000 plus VAT depending upon how your employee and their adviser engages and negotiates.

Sometimes early settlement is simply not possible. For example, an employee may reject the advice that they receive, believing they will secure more compensation at an Employment Tribunal. In these circumstances, they may decide to proceed with an ET claim.

We have set out example scopes of work and pricing for:

1. “Low Complexity” ET cases;
2. “Medium Complexity” ET cases; and
3. “High Complexity” ET cases.

Factors that could make a case more complex include:

1. Your employee does not want to settle at a reasonable and fair level on the strength of their case and wants their “day in Court”. Employees do not have to pay ET fees so they are now more likely to file an ET claim and not settle earlier.
2. Your employee does not take legal advice or only limited advice at certain times and brings their ET claim as a ‘litigant in person’ meaning  he/she is not represented by a lawyer. As a litigant in person he/she will need more time to understand the process and we have to take more time to explain it to him/her.
3. The type of employment law rights which your employee alleges have been breached eg unpaid wages, unfair dismissal and/or discrimination.
4. If it is necessary to make or defend applications to amend claims or to provide further information about an existing claim. This is more time intensive as a further hearing will be required.
5. Complex preliminary issues such as whether the claimant is disabled (if this is not agreed by the parties). This is more time intensive as more analysis is required and a further hearing will be required.
6. The number of witnesses and documents.
7. If it is an automatic unfair dismissal claim e.g. if the employee claims to have been dismissed after blowing the whistle on their employer.
8. Making or defending a costs application.
9. Allegations of discrimination which are linked to the dismissal.
10. The claim made by the employee refers to significant AI produced documentation.

In these examples “employee” includes any worker or other person working with you either directly or via a limited company or other third party who seeks to claim employment and/or worker rights and protection

If the case proceeds to the ET by your employee filing a claim the case becomes more complex.

The Scope would then be:

1. Reviewing Claim Form.
2. Taking your updated instructions, review of detailed documents and emails and advising you on their merits and likely compensation (this is likely to be revisited throughout your case and will change as the case develops).
3. Preparing your defence to the claim (the Grounds of Resistance)  and from this completing the Employment Tribunal Response form (ET3).
4. Preparing for (and attending or instructing your Barrister to attend) a Preliminary Hearing which takes place usually within 6-24 months of the ET3 being filed depending on the location of the ET it is allocated to.
5. Review the schedule of loss which your employee is required to submit to the ET showing what losses he/she alleges he/she has suffered.
6. Taking witness statements, drafting statements and agreeing their content with witnesses.
7. Exchanging documents with the lawyers for your employee and agreeing a bundle of documents required for the Judge at the Final Hearing.
8. Reviewing and advising you on your employee’s witness statements.
9. Agreeing a list of issues, a chronology and/or cast list with the lawyers representing the employee.
10. Exploring settlement and negotiating settlement throughout this whole process.
11. Preparation and attendance at the Final Hearing (usually 2 – 10 days for more complex cases), including instructions to your Barrister who will represent you at the ET.
12. Dealing with any after Final Hearing steps eg organising the payment by you of any ET award to your employee sum or filing and agreeing any settlement if it is reached part-way through the Final Hearing as often happens.

The stages set out above are an indication and always some of stages above are not required. For example if we can help you settle the case part-way through the above Key Stages then you will only incur the fees upto that point.

Timescales

It will usually take between 9 and 15 months for your case to get to the Final Hearing.

Price:

We offer the following fee ranges as examples:

Low Complexity case

 Eg claim for unpaid wages: £5,000 – £9,000 (plus VAT) plus fees for attendance at the Final Hearing and your Barrister fees.

Medium Complexity case 

Eg. claim for unfair dismissal based on lack of proper dismissal process: £12,000 – £17,200  (plus VAT) plus fees for attendance at the Final Hearing and your Barrister fees.

High Complexity case

 Eg. an unfair dismissal and a discrimination claim: £20,000 – £30,500 plus fees for attendance at the Final Hearing and your Barrister fees.

We will help you select a Barrister (also called Counsel) for your case. Counsel’s fees are estimated between £2,000 to £4,000 plus VAT per day (depending on experience of the advocate) for advising on your case, attending a Preliminary Hearing and Tribunal Hearing (including preparation) as necessary and are also £195 to £295 plus VAT per hour. We will always seek your Barrister’s advice on your case proceeding through the ET

There will be an additional fee for attending a Tribunal Hearing of £2,000 per day (excluding VAT) assuming a 7 hour day at the Tribunal.

Disbursements

Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties eg travel costs or experts reports. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process but will need those disbursements paid in advance by you before we pay them for you.

Funding Options

At the start of your case we will remind you to explore your funding options. Eg via any company insurance policy.

Get in touch

Whether you are exploring an early settlement or need to defend an Employment Tribunal claim, we’re here to help you assess your position and agree a practical way forward.

Call us on 020 8255 1914 to discuss your case, what may be involved and the likely costs.