Employment Tribunal Office Unresponsive...

mooks

Hi there,

I submitted my ET1 application in early December 2009, and shortly after then it was accepted. Since that time, I've responded to requests for information thoroughly and quickly.

The Respondent, however, has not...

As you'd expect, they've consistently missed deadlines and thrown every obstacle in the way that they can do. I've written to the ET office numerous times to formally protest against the Respondent's conduct, but I've not received a response to any of my letters.

In July, when the Respondent had missed the deadline for providing the Bundle of Documents by 6 weeks, I applied to have their ET3 response struck out. The ET office wrote to the Respondent, but although the Respondent contested my application, the ET office has been totally silent since the deadline passed. It's been nearly two months since then.

I had a letter from the ET office in early May saying that 'a hearing date will follow shortly', but again, I've had nothing since then.

Every time I write, I feel like my letters are disappearing into the ether or are being ignored. I fully appreciate that the ET workload has increased markedly in the past few years, and am prepared for there to be some delay bringing my case to a hearing, but I'm getting nothing here - no updates, no response to my letters, no action, no hearing dates - nothing.

I've sent a letter to the office manager at the hearing centre today to raise my concerns, but I was hoping for some practical, realistic (harsh/abusive if needs be!) and helpful advice and information on just what I should be expecting.

Happy to provide more information if requested - I just want this chapter of my life over with, and if there's anything I can be doing - or am not currently doing - that would help move things on, obviously I would love to know.

Thanks in advance.

SarEl

Which tribunal office is this?

kcuvad

Hi ,

Similar to me |( your story ) if its any consolation I think you just have to wait. I understand the frustration that is the E.T. set up but there really is no answer except waiting. If you are sure they have received your letters etc just wait , me ive waited almost two years with their delays etc but in the end they come good. It is nothing but stress and waiting but in the end if you you have done thiigs properly it will come good !

God bless

greendollar

and wait .....and wait ......and wait

mooks

@SarEl: It's the East London office...

@kcuvad: The thought of a two year wait sounds terrible - but what else can I do? Good luck with your case - has it been heard yet? The worst thing I suppose is knowing they haven't got a case, but are simply dragging things on because of that.

Was there anything that you'd do differently or was it just a matter of sitting tight and waiting for things to happen? I can't help thinking I'm making things worse by incessantly writing letters every time the Respondent throws something my way - but feel like to do otherwise would be to weaken my case...

It's just a shame we're at a point where it's less about the case itself - and more about the Respondent conducting themselves in a manner that appears entirely with the intention of delaying things - I mean, when they put forward the dates they couldn't attend a hearing they wrote off a whole seven months - no justification - they just wrote it off. Then when I complained about them not providing the Bundle of Documents, they blamed me - even though I'd sent them all the information on a DVD. They conveniently omitted the evidence that was central to my case...

@greendollar: Good to know there are others in this situation though - makes the wait more bearable...

SarEl

Thought it might be a London one. Some of the urban offices have huge backlogs - claims are rising beyond their capacity to deal with them. The average time between claim and hearing is about 6 - 9 months now across the country, but some offices are taking a lot longer. I'm afraid that all you can do is wait. It may be worth contacting your ACAS officer - you should have had one notified to you. They can't speed things up but they should be able to find out what is happening.

greendollar

Hi mooks ,

Your experience is sadly not uncommon as I and Kcuvad have found out .
I've been waiting over 2 years now and its all down to stalling tactics used by my ex-employers solicitors .
We've managed to get them to tribunal once (May 2010) and seen it abandoned because of their failure to comply with an Order.
Like you , they attempted to shift the blame onto me stating that we tried to ambush them at the tribunal with ' new evidence ' (evidence we asked to be put in the bundle but they convieniently left out ).
Total !!!!!!!! on their part and we could prove they'd had the evidence for over a year and a half .

The dates for a 2 day hearing were agreed by both sides at the last hearing but when these dates were confirmed they asked for their 5th postponement and the tribunal allowed it .

Aug 2008 was when I was dismissed .........and I'm still waiting for a new date .

spring_chicken

Oh dear, think my hubs tribunal is more than likely gonna be in the east London office, reckon we'll be in for a long, long wait then

mooks

It's a shame - I can entirely understand if the delay has been caused by heavy workloads - but it's just the fact that I'm not hearing anything at all that has me worried.

My experience seems to be quite similar to yours though greendollar - my former employer is riding roughshod over the regulations with apparent impunity, and when I flag their behaviour as unreasonable I feel like I'm being ignored. Even after I applied to have their ET3 struck out, I've heard nothing since the deadline passed.

I was in a very specialist area of work, and nearly a year after being made redundant I still can't find work - transferable skills aren't helping, as I don't have relevant experience in the new area, while work in my old industry just isn't out there - it's the first thing to be cut when costs have to be saved.

I naively thought things might be over by now and I'd be able to get on with my life, but money's running out - fast - I still have my overheads to pay and to be frank, I'm terrified...

viktory

Shows how fortunate we have been - made the application in August and have a date set for December.

mooks

Crikey...

What were the specifics of your case - if you don't mind me asking? Which Tribunal centre is this?