AN EMPLOYER'S GUIDE TO RECEIVING AN ET1

If you're an employer and an ET1 drops through the letterbox or lands in your inbox, here's what I'd do.

1. Don't panic.

The vast majority of Employment Tribunal claims are "sortoutable" one way or another. That doesn't necessarily mean cheaply or quickly, but receiving an ET1 is not the same thing as losing a Tribunal case.

2. Look at who is representing the claimant.

That may give you an early feel for how the claim is likely to be run. If it's a solicitor, there is often the possibility of a commercial financial settlement. If it's an AI firm, that possibility may be even greater because of the way those firms operate. A claimant representing themselves may have more personal investment in seeing the case through. If they appear to have drafted the claim with AI, they may also have an unrealistic view of how strong it actually is.

3. Read the ET1 carefully.

Don't be overawed if it looks impressive. AI can produce documents that sound authoritative without necessarily being right. At this stage you're simply asking yourself whether this is a complete "try on" or whether there is something in it. The problem is that employment law can be fiendishly complicated. You may think there's nothing in the claim when, legally, there is.

4. By all means run it through an AI model.

It may point you in the right direction or identify issues you hadn't thought about. Just remember that it only knows what you tell it. It has absolutely no idea what your side of the story is.

5. Start getting your own case together.

Don't wait. Gather the documents, emails and notes, identify the people involved and start putting together your own chronology of what happened. The sooner you do it, the less likely important details are to be forgotten.

6. If your defence isn't particularly good, that doesn't stop you settling.

It simply means you may have to settle on less favourable terms. There is nothing wrong with recognising a weak case and taking a commercial decision.

7. Try to work out what losing might actually cost you.

Don't just think about compensation. Think about legal costs, management time, disruption to the business and the stress of having key people tied up in litigation. A straightforward unfair dismissal claim is one thing. A case involving dismissal, whistleblowing and sexual harassment is quite another.

8. Remember that most Employment Tribunal claims are not successful.

An ET1 is simply the start of the process. It isn't a finding that you've done anything wrong.

9. Then think about the claimant.

Are they the sort of person who is determined to have their day in Tribunal whatever happens? Or are they likely to take a sensible commercial view if an acceptable settlement is offered? Sometimes understanding the individual is almost as important as understanding the law.

10. Only then decide on your strategy.

By that stage you should have a reasonable idea of the strengths and weaknesses of both sides, what the litigation might cost and whether an early settlement makes commercial sense. That's a far better position to be in than simply reacting to the arrival of the ET1.

The difficulty is that all of this requires you to stand back and look at the dispute objectively. Most employers have never dealt with an Employment Tribunal before and employment law is well outside their comfort zone.

That's one of the reasons I developed Forensic Employment Dispute Analysis (FEDA). The idea is to analyse not just the legal issues, but the evidence, the commercial risks and the realistic options before substantial time and money are spent.