Employment Claims Act 2016 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3 · Employment Claims
12. Jurisdiction of tribunal to hear and determine claims
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A tribunal can hear and decide a claim that meets certain requirements, even if the dispute arose before 1 April 2017. Certain employees and employers can bring claims against each other. A claim can seek money, or reinstatement after a wrongful dismissal. It needs a claim referral certificate, must be lodged in time and must stay within a claim limit.
Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.
Last amended by an amending law of 2018.
Subject to this Act, a tribunal has jurisdiction to hear and determine any claim in relation to which all applicable requirements set out in subsections (2) to (7) are satisfied, regardless whether the dispute giving rise to the claim arose before, on or after 1 April 2017.
tribunal
“tribunal” means a subordinate court called an Employment Claims Tribunal constituted under section 4 of the State Courts Act 1970;
The claim must be made —
claim
“claim” means a claim lodged with a tribunal, and includes a counterclaim lodged with a tribunal;
by an employee who is prescribed or belongs to a prescribed class of employees (or a person entitled under any written law to receive an amount claimed (if any) in place of the employee) against the employer of the employee;
by an employee who is prescribed or belongs to a prescribed class of employees (or a person entitled under any written law to receive the amount claimed in place of the employee) against a person liable under section 65 of the Employment Act 1968 for the employee’s salary; or
by an employer who is prescribed or belongs to a prescribed class of employers (or a person entitled under any written law to receive the amount claimed in place of the employer) against an employee of the employer for an amount relating to a specified employment dispute concerning —
any matter specified in item 17 of the First Schedule or item 14 or 16 of the Second Schedule; or
any other matter specified in the First or Second Schedule that is prescribed for the purposes of this sub‑paragraph.
The claim must be for either or both of the following:
one or more amounts alleged to be payable by the respondent to the claimant;
reinstatement, by the respondent, of the claimant in the claimant’s former employment, in a case where the claim is lodged in respect of a wrongful dismissal dispute.
Each amount alleged to be payable under the claim must relate to a specified employment dispute.
specified employment dispute
“specified employment dispute” means a specified contractual dispute, a specified statutory dispute or a wrongful dismissal dispute;
The claim must be supported by a claim referral certificate issued in respect of every specified employment dispute for which the claim is lodged.
claim referral certificate
“claim referral certificate” means a claim referral certificate issued under —(a)section 6(2) or 7(7)(a); or(b)section 30H(6) of the Industrial Relations Act 1960;
The claim must be lodged with the tribunal within the prescribed period after the date of issue of the claim referral certificate supporting the claim.
The total amount alleged to be payable under the claim must satisfy the following conditions:
the total amount alleged to be payable under the claim, in respect of every specified contractual dispute (if any) and every specified statutory dispute (if any) for which the claim is lodged, must not exceed the prescribed claim limit applicable to the claimant for the purposes of this paragraph;
the total amount alleged to be payable under the claim, in respect of every wrongful dismissal dispute (if any) for which the claim is lodged, must not exceed the prescribed claim limit applicable to the claimant for the purposes of this paragraph.
Regulations made under section 34 may —
prescribe different employees or classes of employees for different categories of claims or different categories of specified employment disputes;
prescribe different employers or classes of employers for different categories of claims or different categories of specified employment disputes;
prescribe any matter mentioned in subsection (2)(c)(ii);
prescribe the period in subsection (6), including different periods for different categories of claims and different circumstances; and
prescribe the claim limits in subsection (7)(a) and (b), including different claim limits for different classes of claimants and different circumstances.