Represented parties to an employment tribunal claim are required to work together to prepare a list of the legal and factual issues in the case, known as a List of Issues.
In complex claims, including those relating to discrimination or whistleblowing, this consideration will usually arise before the first case management hearing.
In a more straightforward claim, such as one for unpaid wages or straightforward unfair dismissal, the parties will likely benefit from the early production of such a list but one may not be needed by the Tribunal until the final hearing of the claim.
Unrepresented parties may also find this note helpful to their cause.
The list should only include issues which are disputed between the parties. Parties to tribunal claims should work together to narrow the issues (agree on what they agree and agree to disagree on what they do not agree on) in a case, wherever possible.
An effective List of Issues is therefore one which clearly explains the issues of fact and law which are to be decided by the Tribunal. It’s sort of a shopping list for the tribunal to use to guide them on what they need to decide.
To illustrate this, in a simple unpaid wages claim the issues would include:
Law – whether the wages were due in theory under a contract and/or a law.
Fact – did the thing required by the contract or the relevant law happen for the worker to be entitled to the payment?
In a disability discrimination claim one of the most common issues to be decided is whether the Claimant is in fact disabled and whether at the relevant time the employer knew that the Claimant was disabled. The List of Issues will then go on to list what else needs to be decided.
A well drafted Grounds of Complaint will make clear what the issues to be decided are and should enable a lawyer to lift those issues from the pleadings and add them to a List of Issues.
This blog was written by Ben Lindsay, Solicitor at didlaw.
