Independent, practical help for litigants in person in England & Wales.
Written by John Barwell
Winning liability is only half the case. This guide explains how an employment tribunal actually builds an unfair dismissal award: the basic award’s statutory formula, the compensatory award’s assessment of real financial loss, the reductions for conduct, chance and mitigation, the statutory cap, and the up-to-25% Acas Code adjustment either way.
Written by John Barwell
Moving a listed Employment Tribunal hearing takes a formal application, not a diary note. This guide explains the rule 32 test in the 2024 Rules, what the presidential guidance expects a postponement request to contain, and the timing and evidence that decide whether it succeeds.
Written by John Barwell
The structural reform campaigners proposed has not happened: the Office of the Whistleblower Bill fell when the 2024–26 session ended, and no whistleblowing bill is before the current Parliament. But the law has not stood still — sexual harassment is now an express qualifying disclosure, the prescribed-persons list has been expanded twice, and tribunal time limits are about to double. An evidence-led state of play, measured against what reformers asked for.
Written by John Barwell
Nine months after Royal Assent, the Employment Rights Act 2025 is a half-built statute. Tribunal time limits double on 1 October 2026, but the unfair dismissal changes do not begin until January 2027 — and for dismissal the test is the date the employment ends, not the day the decision is announced. A state-of-play guide to what is in force, what is not, and how to time a claim in the overlap.
Written by John Barwell
The first battle in an Employment Tribunal claim may be procedural. The ET1, grounds of claim and particulars can decide whether the case is clear enough to survive early pressure.
Written by John Barwell
A Legal Lens article on ET3 responses, procedural fairness and why a bare denial may not define the dispute.
Written by John Barwell
The ET1 is more than an Employment Tribunal claim form. It is the first point where a workplace story becomes a case, shaping the issues, respondent response, evidence, amendment risk and access to justice.
Written by John Barwell
Employment Tribunals are under pressure. Legal Lens explains why the backlog is a route-design problem, not just a delay problem.
Written by John Barwell
A list of issues is not administrative decoration. It is the point where the pleaded case is translated into the questions the Tribunal is being asked to decide.
Written by John Barwell
A practical guide to Employment Tribunal reconsideration, why it is not a second hearing or appeal, and when fairness may require a judgment to be revisited.
