The Supreme Court has ruled that the government was acting unlawfully when it introduced employment tribunal fees in July 2013 and will have to pay more than £27m to individuals charged for taking their employers to court for cases on workplace issues
Employment tribunal fees have now been scrapped therefore anyone who has been treated illegally or unfairly at work will no longer have to pay to take their employers to court.
The Supreme Court ruled against the court fees as the Fees Order is unlawful under both domestic and EU law because it has the effect of preventing access to justice.
The government will also have to refund more than £27m to the thousands of people charged for taking claims to tribunals since July 2013, when fees were introduced by then Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling.
UNISON brought judicial review proceedings against the Lord Chancellor four years ago when tribunal fees were first launched.
Dave Prentis, UNISON general secretary, said: ‘The government is not above the law. But when ministers introduced fees they were disregarding laws many centuries old, and showing little concern for employees seeking justice following illegal treatment at work.
‘The government has been acting unlawfully, and has been proved wrong – not just on simple economics, but on constitutional law and basic fairness too.
‘It’s a major victory for employees everywhere. UNISON took the case on behalf of anyone who’s ever been wronged at work, or who might be in future. Unscrupulous employers no longer have the upper hand.
‘These unfair fees have let law-breaking bosses off the hook these past four years, and left badly treated staff with no choice but to put up or shut up. We’ll never know how many people missed out because they couldn’t afford the expense of fees. But at last this tax on justice has been lifted.’
Employment tribunal fees were introduced on 29 July 2013 and started at around £160 for a type A claim, such as wage claims, breach of contract, and £250 for a type B claim, covering issues such as unfair dismissal, race and sex discrimination.
There was also a further hearing fee of £230 for Type A and £950 for Type B claims. Appeals at the employment appeal tribunal attracted an additional £400 lodging and £1,200 hearing fee.
Justice Minister Dominic Raab said: ‘We will take immediate steps to stop charging fees in employment tribunals and put in place arrangements to refund those who have paid.’
R (on the application of UNISON) (Appellant) v Lord Chancellor (Respondent) [2017] UKSC 51 is available here.
