Tribunals have a certain amount of informality however, like a court they must act independently and cannot give legal advice.  Employment Tribunals deal with matters to do with employment, such as terms and conditions of employment and wages, unfair dismissal claims, redundancy payments and issues relating to sex, race and disability discrimination.

N.B.

The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 have been laid before Parliament and will come into force on 6 April 2012, in respect of claims submitted to an employment tribunal on or after that date.

They make various changes to the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure, including:

 (a) the maximum amount of deposit order, which a tribunal can order a party to pay as a condition of continuing with tribunal proceedings, increases to £1,000 (instead of the current limit of £500),

(b) the maximum amount of a costs order, which a tribunal may award in favour of a legally represented party, increases to £20,000 (instead of the current limit of £10,000),

(c) witness statements are to be taken as read and stand as evidence-in-chief unless the tribunal directs otherwise, and

(d) employment judges can direct that a party must pay the expenses incurred by a witness in attending a tribunal hearing to give evidence, and can order the losing party to reimburse the winning party for any such costs that have already been paid out.