Thanks a lot becky2585, the number of claims have decreased alarmingly! This must have had knock on effects in the legal profession surely! As for the civil service court workers, an 80% drop in workload - and some of them are as inefficient and ineffective as ever!* *And some are worth their weight in gold - thank the Lord they are there.

Fancy that, a little googling finds such a template! Hope this helps. http://www.characterreferenceletters.com/Character_Reference_Disciplinary_Hearing.php

? You may have to expand on this a little Lava please. I haven't come across using a character ref. in a disciplinary hearing - surely managers already know their employees?

Hi, are there any stats on how many ET and EAT claims that the Tribunal service deal with on a yearly basis. Obviously the numbers dropped once fees were introduced - but it would be interesting to see what the volume of claims settled down at since that time. Regards, SL

Hi maleabcd, it is unclear what you are asking us to address/advise on. Could you clarify?

Hi steampowered, I thought I'd look a bit deeper into the 'enriched' principle, but the link doesn't seem to lead me to anywhere (it might be me just being dozy!) Can you recommend any websites that might expand on this key principle? Regards. SL

citizenB, please there is no need to apologise, you have already helped me understand something that has been puzzling me for some time.

Thanks for the information steampowered. I take your point about reasonable behaviour etc; and if a claimant has charged forth in a blind fury with no chance of success then he/she rightly lays themselves open to the possibility of picking up the bill. However I believe employers could do more to avoid things getting as far as they do. I have come across several examples where, with a little more common sense on both sides, things could have been probably resolved without a full hearing. For example (I have come across this three times now) I don't understand why some employer's legal reps threaten/intimidate a claimant with a costs warning letter but do not mention a figure, and only show the costs schedule to the claimant when all the parties (and their witnesses) are sitting in a tribunal waiting room suited and booted a hour or so prior to the hearing itself. Surely if one wished to instil the heebeegeebees into a claimant or, more kindly perhaps, give them a reality check, a more effective way of doing things might be to warn the claimant of the said figure weeks in advance (and let them stew on the consequences of proceeding)? Maybe there is some tactical advantage for the respondent only to reveal such a thing only at the last minute - but it is beyond me as to what that advantage might be, other than to induce instant fear/terror. I do think it is unfair on the claimant (and the tribunal) to behave in this way. If someone could enlighten as to why it is done at the 11th hour I would be a much more effective advisor.

Thanks again citizenB, however I was thinking about costs orders against claimants only (not the respondents - which may say a lot about my mindset!), these articles seem to deal with compensatory awards for claimants.

I have another query. Under the 2013 rules (78a) an employment panel can make a costs order of up to £20,000 against a claimant if the claim fails. More than £20,000 it has to be assessed by a county court. OK. I understand that the tribunal does have a lot of latitude in determining the level of a costs order between £0 and £20,000, but surely there must be some means of assessment that a panel would have to use to determine a total costs award figure? I am told that the usual rule of thumb is a third of the total that the employer is claiming. Can it be as simple as that?

citizenB! This is fantastic, you have unpicked my own (unrealised) confusion between the £500 relating to deposit orders and the £500 relating to costs orders. So the costs order limit lifted from £500 to £10,000 way back in 2001, and it interesting to read a CAB digest from 2004 talking about employer's using costs threats to intimidate claimants (a problem that is still around today). Costs are a particular bugbear of mine. The ceiling of costs awards was further increased from £10,000 to £20,000 in the 2013 changes. Thank you very much for this clarification.

Hello, this is an 'academic' query I'd like to ask. I was doing some background reading recently around ET matters (I'm doing some voluntary work at a CAB at the mo) and I noticed that there was a time apparently when tribunals were limited to a costs award of £500 against a claimant (a golden age?). Could someone tell me when this all changed? I imagine it must have been years ago given the blank look I got when I asked at work. (I assume that when the limit was removed it may have had a similar effect on the number of ET claims submitted as had the 'recent' introduction of upfront fees?) PS - heartening to see so much helpful advice and support still be shared on this site.

Hi butcher1, just to clarify, do you mean an EAT appeal (following on from an ET hearing and judgment) or do you mean a Court of Appeal hearing (after an EAT hearing and judgment)?

Hi maddiemay, what court 'system' are you going through? Is it small claims?

Hi Alexa24, well, you haven't got a written warning yet so you may be worrying about something that still might not happen. You should be allowed to take someone to sit with you in the hearing if you so wish (check your employer's internal disciplinary procedures). Written warnings should only sit on a employee's record for a number of months dependant on the employer's internal policies (3 or 6 months perhaps) - though I seem to remember final written warnings sitting on an employee's record for a year at a previous employer I was working for; then they should expire. Don't worry too much - it is a storm in a teacup compared to what some people on here are going through. If you are unhappy with the job and the people (men bitch a lot too you know!) you can always start looking around for something else. All the best.