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Employment Appeal Tribunal

The Employment Appeal Tribunal´s main purpose is to consider appeals from decisions made by Employment Tribunals, although it also hears, less frequently, appeals from (and applications relating to) decisions made by the Certification Officer or by the Central Arbitration Committee.

An appeal must be on a point of law, i.e. it must identify flaws in the legal reasoning of the original decision. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) will not normally re–examine issues of fact.

The powers the EAT are set out in Part II of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (as amended) and the Employment Appeal Tribunal Rules 1993 (as amended) and the procedures which the EAT operates, and what it requires of parties, are set out in a Practice Direction. The EAT is headed by a Presidentand a Registrar whilst hearings are conducted by a judge alone or by a judge and two lay members. The judge is normally a High Court or circuit judge or Scottish Court of Session judge. Occasionally the judge will be a Recorder or Commissioner.

The lay members have practical experience in employment relations (one on the employers’ side and one on the employees’).

Appeals must be on a point of law, in other words there must be flaws in the legal reasoning of the original decision, rather than a dispute as to the facts of the case. The EAT will not normally re-examine issues of fact. The principles established in the EAT’s judgments are used by Employment Tribunals when they reach their decisions.

If you are applying to the EAT you should note that time limits are strictly enforced. The usual rule is that your appeal must be received complete by the EAT no later than 16:00 (4pm) on the 42nd day after the date on which the Employment Tribunal sent you the judgment, decision, direction or order. The 42nd day will be the same day of the week, six weeks later.

When applying you must send a fully-completed notice of appeal form within the time limit set out above or, if you do not use this form, you must provide the same information in some other way. You should also send the following documents. If you omit any which are relevant then you must include an explanation of why you did not send them:

  • the judgment, decision, direction or order against which you are appealing
  • written reasons – if your appeal is against a judgment (or an order which requires written reasons)
  • claim (ET1) – which the claimant sent to the Employment Tribunal
  • response (ET3) – which the respondent sent to the Employment Tribunal
  • application for review – if you have asked the ET for a review

More information on what must be sent and what you must include in your notice of appeal can be found in the Practice Direction.

employmentlawhelp can assist you fully by advising you as to the likelyhood of you being able to appeal to the EAT and assisting you, where appropriate, in formulating and then conducting that appeal. Contact us on 084 4804 4800

Footnotes

  • , whose functions are set out fully in the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (as amended), is responsible for :
    • maintaining a list of trade unions and employers’ associations
    • receiving, ensuring compliance with statutory requirements and keeping available for public inspection annual returns from trade unions and employers’ associations
    • determining complaints concerning trade union elections, certain other ballots and certain breaches of trade union rules
    • ensuring observance of statutory requirements governing mergers between trade unions and between employers’ associations
    • overseeing the political funds and the finances of trade unions and employers associations
    • certifying the independence of trade unions

    Further details about the Certification Officer can be found at the official web site www.certoffice.org.

  • main function is to adjudicate on applications relating to the statutory recognition and derecognition of trade unions for collective bargaining purposes in those circumstances where recognition or derecognition cannot be agreed voluntarily. It also has a statutory role in determining disputes between trade unions and employers over the disclosure of information for collective bargaining purposes, and in resolving applications and complaints under the Information and Consultation Regulations 2004, the European Public Limited-Liability Company Regulations 2004 and the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999. The CAC also provides voluntary arbitration in industrial disputes.Further details about the Central Arbitration Committee can be found at the official web site www.cac.gov.uk.