Section 13(1) of the Equality Act 2010 defines discrimination as occurring where “because of a protected characteristic, A treats B less favourably than A treats or would treat others”. In discrimination claims the burden of proof shifts from first the Claimant and then to the Respondent employer. The Starting Point: The employee must prove a…

Vento bands: What are they? What do they mean? And what are the factors that the employment tribunal will be taking into consideration when deciding an injury to feeling award? Stephen Foster, Legal & Professional Service Manager and Luke Richardson, Employment Law Consultant at Vista spend 5 minutes explaining Vento bands, the three levels and…

In our blog series addressing all aspects of the employment tribunal process, we’ve come to the stage of employment tribunal awards. Tim Cross, Director of Employment and Legal Affairs at Vista gives us a run down of the potential argument’s employers can use to reduce them. Firstly, if someone is unfairly dismissed, they are entitled…

You are in the run up to an employment tribunal hearing and your witness has left the business. Whether that be under a cloud or hopefully on good terms, here’s what to do: Ask yourself – what were the circumstances under which that person left? If that person left with the relationship intact, we are…

A dreaded ET1 Claim Form has landed on your desk. First things first, don’t panic! All employers deal with tribunal claims, having to defend one doesn’t make you a terrible employer. So, it’s time to get your response together. An employers response to a tribunal claim is submitted using an ET3 form. If you are…

There is a common misconception about the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). For employers, it’s formal, stuffy and ‘there’s no point pursuing the matter further because we would never get the decision of a Tribunal overturned anyway’. For employees, it’s perhaps seen as second crack at the whip. Our aim today is to dispel some of…

You have an employment tribunal claim that you believe your organisation should settle. There may be plenty of obstacles ahead of you, in the shape of your MD muttering phrases such as ‘it’s a matter of principle’, or your FD has taken a particular dislike to the claimant and you receive an ‘over my dead…

Choosing the right witnesses for a tribunal hearing is essential. The selection can have a huge influence on the outcome; cases really are won or lost on the witness evidence. We got together with our employment law team to talk through this key step in the Tribunal process and understand how HR professionals can make…

Continuing our series focussed on the employment tribunal process, we’re looking at how to write a good witness statement. At this stage of the employment tribunal process all the evidence has been disclosed and agreed within the Joint Bundle. We look at what’s involved in document disclosure here. What is the role of a witness…

Bullying and harassment, if you don’t hear these terms in the press on a regular basis, we’re pretty sure you will hear them around the office. In the world of HR these words amount to serious but very different allegations. You may have heard the phrase ‘all examples of harassment could also be bullying, but…