Et1 deadline > summer 2013 fee imposition & 90% reduction in new claims

[badback2]

ET1 FILING DEADLINE > SUMMER 2013 FEE IMPOSITION & 90% REDUCTION IN NEW ET CLAIMS SINCE LATE JULY 2013

 

 

1) ET filing deadline - Prior to Summer 2013 (ie when filing fees etc were introduced) it was lawful to submit a claim to the ET by 2359hrs on the day before 3 months after one's effective date of termination. This differed from the customary 1600hrs county court cut off.

 

Has this rule changed ? I ask because today (13 Feb) I submitted an ET1 and fee remission form (EX160A) by hand to my local ET (Manchester). I handed it in at 1645. Although it was in fact "in time" it was still suggested that it would only be dated tomorrow (ie 14 Feb). The reason given was that all claims are now processed in Leicester. In my case it did not matter, but if this had been a last minute filing then I would have been aggrieved because the Tribunal offices are open till 1700 hrs Monday to Friday and thus if the ET1 is received at a local ET office "on time" then surely it's in the HMCTS system on time and on that day !?

 

2) Reduction in ET claims post introduction of fees - I was shocked to hear that my local ET has seen a 90% reduction in claims since the introduction of allegedly punitive fees. Even allowing for the peak of claims pre August 2103, this is a dramatic reduction. The ET staff and judiciary are concerned that a major proportion of them may be made redundant, Justice !?

[smokejumper]

ET claims in my opinion are to help the employee that has been wronged.

 

However in my experience they seem to have a bias toward the employer.

 

I had a PHR recently where I said to the Judge that I had trouble keeping to the deadlines because of my disability, he said that I shouldn't have started the process in that case.

 

My legal costs would be £22000 if represented, out of my reach, where the employer has the funds to be represented.

 

And now the costs to start a claim.

 

Seems to be obstacles at every stage to put you off.

 

So the staff are concerned about their jobs, what did they expect, the fees were made to reduce the claims, which was their goal.

[smokejumper]

double post

[becky2585]

The system has changed. You can only now hand in claims at certain regional tribunals which are the dedicated admin centres. Otherwise they get posted on to local admin centres.

 

The 90% reduction statistic isn't correct, by the way. There's been a slight reduction in issued claims, but it's closer to 10% based on the last published statistics. It'll be interesting to see the next quarter when they are published, though.

[happyhelper]

re Smokejumper Thread # 2 :

The above is typical. A disabled friend of mine who has mental impairment had a similar experience. Sent in letter before action to Judge under Equality Act - ET replied on Judge's behalf .... Judiciary exempt from Equality Act and comments (if any) protected by absolute legal privilege . Friend is very tenacious. Upshot was that Judge was sent (against their will no doubt) on a 2 day mental health awareness course and was barred from sitting on any case where my friend was a claimant or a lay rep. Guess that's half a result.

 

Some Judges are extremely arrogant, pompous and out of date. They are also hard taskmasters . I should know !! They adjudicate on National Minimum Wage issues, but have no clue what happens in the real world re low pay etc. Since involvement of wing members at most full ET hearings has been stopped, justice re low pay etc has taken a backward step ... the wing members could at least relate to the plight of the "man/ woman in the street".

Edited February 14, 2014 by happyhelper

[happyhelper]

Ta Becky. I think the statistics are misleading and possibly inaccurate. You know what they say about statistics ! Fact is, and without getting myself into trouble, I should know what the true drop off is , if you get my drift ! What evidence are you referring to which says there was only a 10% drop off. There were some statistics published late last year , but they were skewed as a result of July peak. And BTW Becky in case you are confused, my boyfriend who is also a CAGGER (BB2), and is now ur friend cannot use his notification service because a CAGGER can only fully use PM service etc once a member has made 30 posts. Thus I'd resort to a plan B option !

[becky2585]

Oki doke I'll sort it out

 

Stats can be misleading, I agree. In fact, I was emailed claim stats from the ET service and the Employment Lawyers association which were dramatically different. Very interested to see the next published quarter - there's been a drop in claims issued at our firm so I do wonder what the national impact will be.

 

Unfortunately the first major request for judicial review of the fees seems to have failed to date, so looks like fees are here to stay, for the time being at least.

[steampowered]

Claims for unpaid wages and so on will now be brought in county court where the fees are lower, instead of in Employment Tribunal. This will account for some of the drop but obviously not all of it.

[badback2]

Hopefully this will make some CAGGERS laugh. I asked for clarification re point 1) and 2) of my post by calling ET helpline in Bury St Edmunds.

 

Was eventually put through to a senior person. Guess what, I was right and local ET centre were wrong. The cutoff is and always has been 1700hrs for ET1 delivery in person ...and midnight for online ET1's. My legitimate concerns were noted and the local ET office is to be "re-trained" !!

 

The senior ET official also confirmed that the number of new ET1 claims is in terminal decline and HMCTS jobs are at risk.

 

Further, I am now aware of the following anecdote from my "ET contacts". Post introduction of the ET fee regime, "in time" ET1 claims are now being received by employers up to 5-6 months after the claimants effective dates of termination (EDT's). In former times employers typically received an ET3 request within one week of an ET1 being filed and could thus prepare for the worst ! Now it can take ages for an employer to be made aware of a claim because of the time and bureaucracy involved in dealing with the new fee regime and the related processing of fee remission applications (EX-160A's) for certain claimants. It is understood that employers are becoming increasingly frustrated in respect of such delays. If that it is true then maybe the UK's disgruntled employers should wholeheartedly support UNISON's on-going campaign to have the ET fee regime abolished !

 

FYI UNISON's case may well end up in the European court, where the abolishment of said fees could be upheld. You see the EU ain't all bad !

[smokejumper]

So there are less claims now! why does it take a month to get any correspondence from the tribunal.