Support With Employment Tribunals

IPSG support at employment tribunals

Can you help me with my employment tribunal case?

The short answer is yes. We are authorised by the Ministry of Justice to represent police officers and police staff at the Employment Tribunal.

Before doing so we are under an obligation to ensure that you have explored other methods of representation and funding especially if you are a subscribing member of the police federation or a union.

You should also check any other methods of obtaining legal advice and representation such as checking Home Insurance Policies which sometimes cover you for employment disputes.

At what stage should I contact you?

As soon as possible. We are able to review your case and provide you with as much or as little assistance as you may need from submitting the initial claim to dealing with the whole case.

If you have received advice which states that your case has a less than 50% chance of success, we can review your case for you to ensure that those providing the advice have been supplied with all the relevant information.

There may have been insufficient initial research and preparation. Your case may have been passed from a representative to a solicitor and then to a barrister, important details can sometimes be missed which may have resulted in your case having a higher prospect of success.

I am a subscribing member of a Union, why is my case not being funded?

We are often approached by police officers and police staff who have had difficulty in persuading the Police Federation or a Union to take on their case.

More often than not members of the Police Federation and Unions are not aware of the circumstances in which they may be denied legal representation and we would urge claimants to ask questions at an early stage to clarify their position.

By far the largest number of referrals to the IPSG concern Claimants who have been informed that their case has a less than 50% chance of success, as a result the Police Federation or Union will not fund their case.

These decisions are usually made by Counsel on behalf of retained firms of solicitors. Both solicitors and Counsel have been paid from federation or Union funds.

Even if legal advice indicates that you have a good case, your case may still not be funded if it is thought that the case is not financially viable.

A good indication of whether or not you are going to be given the appropriate level of support is to consider the following questions:

Will your representative be helping you in submitting your claim form to the Employment Tribunal, interviewing and taking statements from prospective witnesses.
If your case is sent off for legal advice are you sure that you will not be out of time and your case prejudiced by missing any statutory time limits to submit your claim (Usually 3 months less one day from the last incident complained of.
Do you have confidence in your representative being willing or able to pursue enquiries to assist your case in relation to difficult subjects such as whistle-blowing, corruption or victimisation where senior police officers and staff may be involved?

If you would like further information or wish to discuss any aspect of your case Get in touch now!

IPSG is Regulated by the Ministry of Justice in respect of regulated claims management activities