If an employee wants to pursue their workplace related grievance to an Employment Tribunal then they must be aware of what kind of claims the Employment Tribunal will be able to hear. Although the Tribunals have the statutory right of jurisdiction over employment related disputes in England and Wales, in reality they only hear claims related to a certain number of core issues. It is also of key importance that the employee has taken their grievance as far as the company's own in-house grievance procedures will allow. This is because the Tribunal panel will tend not to look favourably on an employee who has decided to make a claim to the Tribunal instead of attempting to resolve the dispute themselves with their employer.
The types of claims that can be brought before an Employment Tribunal are:
• Claims of unfair or constructive dismissal. If an employee has been dismissed for reasons that they feel are unjustifiable or in breach of their employment contract, such as unfair selection for redundancy, then they may possibly have a claim of unfair dismissal. If the employee feels that they have had to leave their job because of the actions of their employer, such as a serious breach of contract, then they can file a claim of constructive dismissal before the Tribunal.
• Claims of workplace discrimination. If the employee feels that they have been subjected to discriminatory behaviour, such as harassment or victimisation, on the basis of their race, gender or disability, and they feel they can provide adequate evidence of this behaviour to the Tribunal they can file a claim of workplace discrimination.
• Redundancy claims. If an employee has been the subject of redundancy, either fairly or unfairly, but have not been paid their redundancy payments by their former employer, then they will be able to make a claim to the Employment Tribunal.
• National Minimum Wage or equal pay claims. If the employee feels that they are not receiving the national minimum wage or that they are not being adequately paid for the services they provide in relation to other employers, they will be able to pursue this grievance in the Employment Tribunal.
An employee can make a claim to the Employment Tribunal based on any of these examples as long as the claims are lodged with the Tribunal within three months of the dismissal, the last act of discrimination or the date of a failed redundancy payment. As long as these time limits are followed there should be no problem. Remember that the Tribunal process is free to all unless they decide to employ the services of an employment law solicitor to help with the hearing.







