advice on employment tribunal settlement

kcuvad

Hi Everybody,

Ive an employment tribunal hearing in may and wonder if anyone can give advice on how to settle before this date.

To cut a very long story short im representing myself against my former employer who is using a firm of employment consultants to grind me into the ground (or not as the case may be hopefully).

I have two claims against my former employer 1. unfair dismissal 2. constructive unfair dismissal . Last month the employment tribunal called a pre hearing review and the judge told the respondents firm of consultants of in a big way and advised them to settle. Their behaviour(my employer and the employment consultants both ) has been really unbelievable from the start in feb 2009. At this pre hearing review I was flabbergasted to hear the respondants representative admit they were wrong but as ive said the judge listed this for a three day hearing in may.

Now to my question.. This is what I want to get over to my ex employer but in a legal way. I want to get over that if they are willing to bash on until may I wont settle , ill walk into court . My reasons for this are..

1. I dont believe they will honour any out of court settlement and I will still have to enforce this settlement in the county court but actual court orders are covered by a new "fast track " process for employment tribunals

2. This past year and a half has been horrible with stress and a feeling my life has been ruined etc and I want to do the same to them but in court.

Can anyone suggest anything or is it a case of having to wait until a couple of days before the hearing for any negotiations ?

Thanks for any advice in advance

kcuvad

SarEl

Never approach the employer for a settlement unless you want to be seen as weak. They have to believe both that you have the winning hand and that you won't want to settle. Make no approach at all - wait for them to come to you. No matter how long it takes.

kcuvad

Thanks sarEL,

Afraid its already known that I will settle , I told ACAS and also whist i was at the pre hearing review I told their representative what I wanted.

Its all in the open as far as im concerned, its the other side thats pulled all the strokes. Having said that , now im getting really Pxxxxxd because the pre hearing review was over a month ago and it looks like they are just going to make me wait. Now I want to let them know that I wont settle as explained above.

kcuvad

tizerbelle

Unfortunately I think you just need to sit it out now. They know you want or at one point wanted to settle. They didn't go for it - could be for any number of reasons - they think you're losing the will to fight; that if the tribunal goes against them it would impose a settlement less than you wanted; that they'll win outright; etc etc. Unfortunately you put the ball in their court and the power is now with them. They are winning by the simple fact that you are stressing and getting p'd off that they haven't responded to you.

No need to tell them you won't settle now. Don't contact them at all. Don't withdraw your offer. Just wait till May. They may decide they want to settle nearer the date - at which time you can either accept or tell them to stick it. Depends on how you feel at the time.

paulwf

Can you afford to get professional representation? This can help beyond just their experience. Firstly as you won't be dealing with matters directly you may not get so stressed as you'll be a step back from proceedings. Secondly it is much easier to negotiate if the professionals are one step removed from the two parties. I haven't done this with an ET but with commercial property negotiations it was much easier when the two agents could negotiate "hypothetically" and then present an agreement to each side. It's a bit of a game, if the 2 parties talked directly you'd have to declare your intentions outright, but with agents in between they can test the water which smooths the way for a deal.

kcuvad

Thanks tizerbelle and paulwf

Paul ... yes i know exactly what you mean unfortunatly Ive had to do this on my own with the exeption of paying a solicitor at begining to make the applications and do my schedule of loss. Now im skint and on employment support allowance so ive no choice but to do this myself.

Tizerbelle im thinking you are correct but what a situation. A company sacks a person(me) in such an obvious wrong way. Their representatives pull every stroke in the book, get into an argument with the tribunal by letter, get told off by letter by the tribunal and get told to attend a pre hearing review where they are again told off and advised to settle. All this and they can get away with it because thats just the game of employment law !

What a system lol

SarEl

I'm afraid that I have to agree with the previous posters. Since you have indicated a willingness to settle then you have "blinked first" no matter what happened at the PHR, and they have 7 months to play out this game. You should make no attempt to follow this up or discuss it any further until they make a move - otherwise you are simply signalling desperation to get it over.

kcuvad

Thanks again sarEL,

yes I know you are all correct, spot on advice from yourself paul and tizerbelle.

Ive learned lots in the past year and a half about employment law still I hoped I could hurry this up but as I say you are spot on and its best to let them come to me instead of me contacting them even though I AM desperate lol

Thanks again

kcuvad

SarEl

kcuvad wrote: »

let them come to me instead of me contacting them even though I AM desperate

kcuvad

Just don't let it show again. If they contact you - do not rush to reply. Whether the offer is acceptable or not. And don't take any offer without an argument. Anything they offer will be less than they are willing to pay. And don't let ACAS badger you either - they have a vested interest in getting cases settled (they have targets!) and they will not be looking after your best interests

greendollar

kcuvad wrote: »

Thanks tizerbelle and paulwf

Paul ... yes i know exactly what you mean unfortunatly Ive had to do this on my own with the exeption of paying a solicitor at begining to make the applications and do my schedule of loss. Now im skint and on employment support allowance so ive no choice but to do this myself.

Tizerbelle im thinking you are correct but what a situation. A company sacks a person(me) in such an obvious wrong way. Their representatives pull every stroke in the book, get into an argument with the tribunal by letter, get told off by letter by the tribunal and get told to attend a pre hearing review where they are again told off and advised to settle. All this and they can get away with it because thats just the game of employment law !

What a system lol

Hi ,

Couldn't agree more , how the Tribunal Service allow these employers and their solicitors to basically take the pi$$ out if them is laughable .
It seems to be accepted practise to threaten claimants, stall proceedings for as long as possible and lie to the judges in the hope of obtaining Costs Orders .

kcuvad

Thanks again sarEL,

What you say is what Im finding out to be true. Great advice and I must say that what you said about acas is what I thought all along. My case worker seemed to be trying to find out the minimum I would settle for ! So Im going to wait and follow your advice.

Greendollar I seem to be in more or less the same situation as you, In actual fact I read your posts and thought " spookey " as you say tribunals seem to think its ok for solicitors to take the pxxs out of them.

Heres a question ... since solicitors can pull all the tricks in the book does anybody think its possible for claimants to do the same in any way. For example, asking them to provide things which are along the same lines as them asking me to provide bank statements and shedule of loss etc Just think it might be an idea to hassle them instead of them hasseling me !

Thanks