Tribunals Advantages

• Considerable Expertise

  Panel of three people have considerable expertise in employment disputes, whereas a civil judge tends only to have a wide range of general legal skills. In an employment tribunal, the chairman will be an employment judge that is an employment law specialist and the two lay people will have practical experience of business due to their respective connections with employers and employees. Therefore, they can give a clear, balanced assessment on the situation with an accurate outcome.
• Legally Binding

  An award is a final decision and it is legally binding. Eg. a Tribunal award that an employee who has been discriminated against should get compensation. Also, Tribunals must give reasons in writing for their decisions under s10 of the Tribunals and Enquiries Act 1992. This means that the parties (and the public) can understand why a decision is made. If there is disagreement with the decision then there is the opportunity to appeal although these rights are limited. However, if there was a grave mistake with the outcome there is the chance to rectify it. If the parties are still not satisfied with the decision from the Employment Appeal Tribunal then it even can be appealed to the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) and Supreme Court.
• Cost-Effective

  Legal representation is not essential and discouraged so no legal fees and Tribunals do not usually charge a fee. In an Employment Tribunal, each party pays their own legal costs, rather than the losing party paying the costs of both parties. The use of Employment Tribunals also represents a cost saving to the state as it frees the courts from dealing with a large volume of disputes. The Employment Tribunal process deals with over a million cases per year, which would otherwise have to be dealt with by the civil courts. This would have a massive impact as the civil system could not cope with such an increase in case load.
• Time

  The hearing date is fixed within a short period of the start of the claim, giving details of the place, date and time. The final hearing is usually informal in comparison to a Court hearing and can therefore be completed within one day and a decision is often given straightaway. This make the process quicker than a court hearing, which may take many months before a date is set. The involvement of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) in attempting to settle the matter before proceeding to an Employment Tribunal also speeds up matters. This gives further opportunity for the claim to be dealt with in the first instance without the need to progress to the Tribunal, saving further time and money that the parties may not wish to lose but also can clarify some issues that may have been raised during the conciliation.