Pricing
An unfair dismissal claim arises when an employee has been dismissed and they believe the dismissal was in breach of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and therefore unfair.
The person bringing the claim is referred to as the Claimant. In an unfair dismissal claim, the entity responding to the claim is the former employer and is referred to as the Respondent.
If the Claimant was summarily dismissed (dismissed without notice) they may also have a claim for wrongful dismissal and as such they would make a claim for the notice pay they say they should have been paid.
Services in relation to bringing or defending an unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal claim in the Employment Tribunal
We believe in ensuring quality in our services and aim to ensure that the funding of your case is cost-efficient and entirely transparent. We understand that the costs of your case will be important to you and to those involved in your case. It is important that you are fully aware of how much you will need to pay.
We will always advise you of the likely costs in advance of any particular case once we have had an opportunity to assess the issues and the level of work and assistance required. We will take time to agree the costs with you by understanding you, your case and the work involved. However, in order to provide a good estimate of the sort of level of fee you will pay (whether that be an agreed fee or a range of the costs involved in a typical case or a particular tranche of work within a wider case) if you were to instruct us, we have set out on our website a breakdown of our standard charges for bringing or defending claims in the Employment Tribunal, either a claim for unfair dismissal or wrongful dismissal. There may be other costs that you would need to pay over and above our fees, and we aim to provide information of those in addition. Our aim is to enable you to have a good understanding of what it may cost you overall.
In some areas of work, you may also have the benefit of other sources of funding,g such as legal expenses insurance or funding through a trade union or other representative. Please do not hesitate to contact us to explore your options.
Type of fee arrangements offered
We charge on a time basis at hourly rates.
Value Added Tax (VAT)
VAT @ 20% has to be added to our fees and some expenses or disbursements.
Who provides the service?
This work is undertaken by our employment team as set out below:
Clare Waller, Solicitor and Partner
All employment team members are supervised by Clare Waller who is a solicitor and Partner.
Basis of our fees
This work would be charged at hourly rates of between £200 (plus VAT @ 20% (£40) (total £240) to £350 (plus VAT @ 20% (£70) (total £420).
The exact number of hours it will take will depend on the circumstances in your case. Relevant factors could include:
The number of hours it will take to deal with your case can vary greatly.
The following estimates for time are the same for both unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal claims in the Employment Tribunal only. However, wrongful dismissal claims can also be brought in the County of High Court and different fees will apply. If there are other claims being brought within the unfair or wrongful dismissal claim, such as discrimination, this may also impact on the costs estimate.
Set out below are more details about the work involved and estimates for different stages of a matter. It may be that you will not need us to assist with each stage. Based upon the below, should you require our assistance from the early conciliation process to the final hearing the total cost for handling a matter could be between 73 and 109 hours. Based on our maximum hourly rate above this would amount to between £21,900 plus VAT @ 20% (£4,380) (total £26,280) to £32,700 plus VAT @ 20% (£6,540) (total £39,240).
Expenses and Disbursements not included in the fee quoted
No fees are currently payable when bringing an Employment Tribunal claim. However, a Claimant can be asked to pay a deposit and, in exceptional cases, either party can be ordered to pay all or some of the costs of the other. This is an exception to the general rule within the Employment Tribunal system that each party will be responsible for their own legal costs.
Expenses and disbursements could include:
Key stages
The key stages will depend on the particular circumstances of the case but may include the following:
Early conciliation with ACAS
Before a claim can be lodged, it is necessary for the parties to go through the early conciliation process with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS). This can be done between you and the opponent and does not necessarily need our involvement although we are happy to deal with it on your behalf if you wish us to do so.
This usually takes anywhere between 4 to 6 hours depending on the complexity of the case.
If we are involved then, based on the maximum hourly rate above, this could amount to between £1,400 plus VAT @ 20% (£280) (total £1,680) to £2,100 plus VAT @ 20% (£420) (total £2,520).
Completing the Claim or Defence
This will include:
This usually takes anywhere between 6 to 12 hours depending on the complexity of the case.
Based on the maximum hourly rate above this could amount to between £2,100 plus VAT @ 20% (£420) (total £2,520) to £4,200 plus VAT @ 20% (£840) (total £5,040).
Preliminary hearing
These are not always needed but where they are, the work will include:
This process therefore can take anywhere between 10 to 20 hours depending on the complexity of the case and length of the hearing.
Based on the maximum hourly rate above this could amount to between £3,500 plus VAT @ 20% (£700) (total £4,200) to £7,000 plus VAT @ 20% (£1,400) (total £8,400).
Disclosure
This is the process by which parties exchange relevant documentation.
The time it will take will obviously greatly depend on the number of documents, the co-operation of parties in providing the documents and whether there are any legal issues surrounding their relevance or reasons for withholding disclosure (such as where they are privileged).
The work will include:
This process therefore can take anywhere between 5 to 20 hours depending on the documentation.
Based on the maximum hourly rate above this could amount to between £1,750 plus VAT @ 20% (£350) (total £2,100) to £7,000 plus VAT @ 20% (£1,400) (total £8,400).
Litigation
The work involved may include:
The time taken at each key stage and the typical timeframes for each are difficult to estimate without knowing the circumstances or complexity of the particular case.
If the matter is not especially complex with an average range of a one to two day hearing the hours spent on the litigation element would be between 67 to 118 hours. Based on our maximum hourly rate above this would amount to between £23,450 plus VAT @ 20% (£4,690) (total £28,140) to £41,300 plus VAT @ 20% (£8,260) (total £49,560).
Typical timeframes – how long will the matter take?
The timeframe for handling this type of case can vary greatly and so it is extremely difficult to provide an estimate without knowing what the case involves.
Some unfair dismissal claim cases can settle within a matter of weeks where they are resolved during the Early Conciliation Process or shortly thereafter, but where the claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, the case could take anywhere between 6 months and 2 years. At present the Employment Tribunal system, particularly in the South East, is under particular strain and therefore cases are taking very much longer than normal to be heard. It is best to be prepared for this.
We cannot provide a timescale of when hearings will take place, as this depends on the tribunal listings.
Services included in the fee quoted
Services not included in the fee quoted
The fee will not include any advice or assistance on any follow up appeal or other action should the case be unsuccessful. We can discuss any options and fees for those next steps if and when appropriate.
