We have set out below our typical costs for bringing and defending unfair and wrongful dismissal claims in the Employment Tribunal.
The costs set out below are a general range of costs, for an estimate of costs in relation to your own specific circumstances, please contact us.
Please also contact us for information about the costs of claims other than wrongful and unfair dismissal.
Factors that could make a case more complex:
We charge based on an hourly rate which varies depending on the member of the team who is dealing with your matter. Our lowest hourly rate is £250 plus VAT and our highest hourly rate is £495 plus VAT. The seniority of the members of staff dealing with your case will depend on its complexity. We will discuss this with you when you instruct us.
There will be an additional charge for our solicitors attending a Tribunal Hearing in the region of £2,500+ VAT per day.
Generally, Tribunal Hearings take between 1 and 5 days depending on the complexity of the case.
Disbursements are costs related to your matter that are payable to third parties, as printing, copying and travel costs. We handle the payment of the disbursements on your behalf to ensure a smoother process. VAT will be charged on disbursements (such as third party printing or copying, postage and where Vatable expenses are recharged to you (in accordance with the government guidelines as published form time to time – VAT: costs or disbursements passed to customers – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)).
Counsel’s fees are included in our estimates above, although we do give you the opportunity to choose alternative Counsel, which may alter the costs at the time. Barristers’ fees typically fall within the range of £1,000 to £3,000 plus VAT per day at tribunal, so these may range from £1,000 + VAT for a very simple one day case to £10,000 plus VAT for a moderately complex claim. These costs will depend on the experience of the barrister and the length of the hearing advocate).
Where VAT is charged it will be charged at the prevailing rate at the time, which is currently 20%.
The time that it takes from taking your initial instructions to the final resolution of your matter depends largely on the stage at which your case is resolved. If a settlement is reached during pre-claim conciliation, your case is likely to take 6-8 weeks. If your claim proceeds to a Final Hearing, your case is likely to take 26 to 52 weeks or potentially longer in some circumstances. This is just an estimate and we will of course be able to give you a more accurate timescale once we have more information and as the matter progresses.
The fees set out above cover all of the work in relation to the following key stages of a claim:
The stages set out above are an indication and if some of stages above are not required, the fee will be reduced. You may wish to handle the claim yourself and only have our advice in relation to some of the stages. This can also be arranged on your individual needs.