What is a Remedy Hearing?

Employment Tribunal Proceedings – Remedy Hearings

In Employment Tribunal proceedings there are two elements to a claim:

1. Liability
2. Remedy

Liability deals with the evidence, following which the Tribunal will determine whether the claim has been successful or not.

Remedy deals with the amount of compensation, if any, to award to the Claimant if successful with the case.

What is a Remedy Hearing?

In some cases, the Employment Tribunal will only deal with the decision about your case at the main Hearing (i.e. liability).

If this happens then your compensation will be dealt with at a later Hearing, known as a Remedy Hearing.

What is a Remedy?

Remedy is the word used to describe the compensation that the Tribunal will award if you are successful with your claim. Remedy can encompass more than just monetary compensation. 

Be prepared to deal with Remedy at the Final Hearing?

Whilst a separate hearing can be listed to deal solely with remedy, there are instances where remedy can be dealt with at the final hearing. As such, you need to ensure you are fully prepared.

You should go to the Final Hearing armed with the following up to date documents:

• Up to date schedule detailing your loss of earnings
• Pay slips from your previous and any new employment
• Evidence of job applications you have made
• Evidence in support of the amount you are claiming

Preparing for the Remedy Hearing

You are usually ordered by the Employment Tribunal to prepare your documents in advance of the Hearing, in which case you should follow the directions set by the Employment Tribunal. Failure to do so, could impact upon the remedy awarded.

In the unlikely event that you do not receive any directions from the Employment Tribunal you should still get together all of the paperwork about your loss of earnings. You should already have this information from the main Hearing, but it is a good idea to update it with any updated documents, relating to remedy sought, which have arisen since the main liability hearing.

You should also update your Schedule of Loss which is the document that you prepared setting out the amount that you were claiming.

Depending upon your circumstances and the reason for your claim you may also want/need to prepare a witness statement that deals purely with the remedy you are claiming. For example, if the Employer has indicated that they intend to argue that you have failed to try your hardest to look for a job, you may want to prepare a witness statement setting out what you have done and referring to the evidence you have, such as job applications etc.

It is usual for the Employer to provide a counter schedule of loss setting out what they believe your claim is worth and outlining any points they dispute. From this you will have a good idea about what information you need to put in your witness statement.

It is advisable to send copies of any new or amended information to the Employer or their representative before the Hearing date.

Consider negotiating with the Employer

After the Employment Tribunal has made a decision in your favour you are in a much stronger position to negotiate with the Employer, and you are still able to reach a settlement with the Employer at this stage if you want to.

It can be sensible to make an offer of settlement to the Employer after the decision but before the Remedy Hearing in order to speed things up and give you some certainty about how much money you will receive. Please bear in mind that the amount of compensation awarded is at the discretion of the Tribunal.

It will also give you the opportunity to establish if the Employer is going to dispute the amount you are claiming and the reasons why they are going to do so.

What will happen at the Remedy Hearing?

At the Hearing the Employment Tribunal will want to hear from you about how much you are claiming and the reasons for the amount you are claiming.

The Employer will have the opportunity to put forward their argument and any reasons why they think that your compensation should be reduced. For example, if they allege that you contributed to your dismissal then they could ask the Tribunal to reduce your compensation.

The Employment Tribunal will then consider all of the evidence submitted regarding remedy and will make a decision about how much compensation you receive. This will then be confirmed in writing following the Hearing.

If you require any information or assistance relating to a remedy hearing or any other part of the Employment Tribunal process, please contact us on 01983 897003.