ET3 Employment Tribunal Response Form

The Employment Tribunal system was set up to allow claims against employers which are brought by their employees or ex-employees can be dealt with quickly and on an informal basis. Employment Tribunals have jurisdiction to hear a wide variety of claims which would formerly have been brought in the County Court, including discrimination, unfair dismissal,  breach of employment contracts and redundancy claims.

In an Employment Tribunal claim the party who brings the claim (the employee) is referred to as the Claimant and the party against whom the claim is brought (the employer) is referred to as the Respondent.

When a Claimant lodges a claim by sending the Employment Tribunal a completed claim form, the Tribunal will review this and will make an initial decision as to whether the claim is something over which it has jurisdiction and which has some merit. If the Tribunal is happy for the claim to proceed, it will notify the Claimant and will then send the Respondent a copy of the claim form together with the claim notification form ET2.

The Respondent must reply within 28 days by completing and submitting this response form. The Respondent will need to provide his full details, and must also indicate whether he intends to resist (defend) all or part of the claim and the grounds on which he intends to resist. If a Respondent fails to reply within 28 days, then he may forfeit the case and the Tribunal may decide to award judgment to the Claimant without undertaking a hearing.