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Fact sheet: Employment tribunals

Updated 30 September 2024

Applies to England and Wales

We’re designing a digital system for the employment tribunal to make the process simple, fair and accessible for all users.

We’ll remove paper from employment tribunal claims by creating an effective digital system. It will be able to manage evidence and present cases and will be designed around those who use it.

We want to make sure that people working across tribunals have access to the correct information in a timely manner.

1. Main outcomes

We’ve achieved several main outcomes so far, including:

• user researchers working closely with the project team, staff, legal professionals and the judiciary to inform the technical build stage of our reform service - starting with the litigant in person journey for single claimants. 

• user researchers working with external stakeholders such as Acas, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and legal professionals to provide feedback on the latest design work 

• the release of a new ET1 application form for litigants in person (LiP) using an online portal at four early adopter sites - Leeds, Glasgow, Bristol and Nottingham. This gives the LiP claimants access to the new portal to view the status of their claim as it progresses through the system. 

• a new process for represented respondents to submit the ET3 response form via the MyHMCTS portal at the four early adopter sites.  

• Case Progression which allows claimants and respondents within the current Reform criteria to submit various applications online, at four early adopter sites, rather than by email or post.

2. How the private beta release will improve our service

The aim of the private beta phase is to build a working version of the service based on our early designs. Private beta is an online service that is not open to everyone. We restrict access, usually by invite-only, or in a limited region. 

Private beta allows us to: 

• have more control over the type of user. 
• restrict the volume of transactions. 

It results in quicker feedback before we roll the service out to a wider audience. 

The releases to date will test the reform technology with a limited number of eligible claims at the four early adopter sites. The focus is on claims issued by a litigant in person using the enhanced ET1 (claim form) claim journey, and legally represented respondents using the new online ET3 (response form) response journey, with both being able to submit various applications online. 

It will also enable a new way of working for our staff and judiciary, so that they can action the ‘acceptance’ and ‘vetting’ stages for single claims more quickly. 

All claims that do not meet that criteria will remain in the ‘legacy’ current operational process within the current admin employment case management system. We tested this first release with cases in Leeds and Glasgow and then expanded to Nottingham and Bristol. 

We receive around 98% of employment tribunal claims via the current online system. We’ve improved the current claim (ET1) online form and the online response (ET3) journey.

3. Looking ahead in 2024

By the end of 2024, we plan to:

• work with Acas to integrate our systems and release Welsh language functionality for single claims. 
• expand the system to include all case types in all four early adopter sites. 
• change to roll out the service to all Employment Tribunal Offices in England and Wales.
• complete the end-to-end journey for all users.
• allow legal representatives to issue claims for the first time.