All fees are to be repaid together with interest at 0.5% to Applicants who paid Employment Tribunal fees prior to them being found unlawful by the Supreme Court in July 2017.
On 26 July 2017 fees to access the Employment Tribunal system were abolished and therefore it is now free to bring an employment claim in the Tribunal.Those that have paid the fees since their implementation in 2013 and prior to their abolishment are to be refunded.
The first stage of the phased implementation scheme for refunding the fees will start on 20 October 2017. Up to approximately 1000 people were to be contacted on 20 October 2017 directly in order to complete applications. The full scheme will open in the next few weeks and further details about how Applicants can access the scheme will be provided by the Government in due course.
As well as a refund of the fees paid in the course of bringing an Employment Tribunal claim, successful applicants will also be paid interest of 0.5%, calculated from the date of the original payment up until the date of the refund.
The Government have stated that the estimated cost of the refunded fees, including the interest at 0.5%, is £33 million.
Applicants who have paid Employment Tribunal fees but are not a part of the first stage of the scheme, can register their interest in applying for a refund when the full scheme is introduced by way of an email to ethelpwithfees@hmcts.gsi.gov.uk or by post to the Employment Tribunal Central Office.