Presidential Guidance on Employment Tribunal Rules issued

The President of the Employment Tribunals in England and Wales has issued guidance on two important topics: making an application for postponement and default judgment.

Under Rule 29 of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013 (the ET Rules), an Employment Judge has a wide scope to make Case Management Orders. This includes the power to order that a hearing be postponed.

The ET Rules do not give any guidance on how a party should go about making such an application, so the guidance issued is particularly helpful.

In summary, when making an application for postponement a party should:

• State the reason why the application is being made;
• State why it would be in accordance with the Overriding Objective to grant the postponement;
• Notify all other parties that any objects to the application should be sent to the Tribunal as soon as possible;
• Wherever possible, try and discuss the proposal directly with the other parties or their representatives. If a discussion has already taken place this should be set out.

The President’s reference to the Overriding Objective is a new and important point. The Overriding Objective is found at Rule 2 of the ET Rules and includes, for example, ensuring parties are on an equal footing. Parties would be wise to quote directly from Rule 2 when setting out their reasons for requesting the postponement.

An Employment Judge will consider Default Judgment under Rule 21 of the ET Rules where no response has been presented within the set time limit (28 days) or where the Respondent has stated that no part of the claim is contested.

The guidance sets out the options are available to the Tribunal in making a Default Judgment and the factors the Tribunal should take into account when arriving at its decision. The information can help a party to assess the likelihood of a Judgment being made.

For further information, the guidance can be accessed here.