Employment tribunal decisions now online

A new webpage listing employment tribunal decisions has been launched on the gov.uk website.

The webpage allows the public to search for first-instance judgments from England, Wales and Scotland using drop-down menus and a free-text search.

Previously, anyone wanting to search or browse employment tribunal decisions had to attend in person at offices in Bury St Edmunds for English and Welsh decisions, and in Glasgow for Scottish decisions.

Currently, a selection of decisions from 2015, 2016 and 2017 are listed on the page.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service previously stated that earlier employment tribunal decisions will not be available through the online database but will continue to be available in Bury St Edmunds and Glasgow.

“Employment tribunal judgments are first-instance decisions and are not binding on subsequent cases,” said Qian Mou, employment law editor at XpertHR.

“However, decisions often provide a detailed account of the facts in a case, which can incentivise parties to settle rather than risk bad publicity. Judgments can also provide helpful examples of how tribunals deal with legal issues and fact situations.”

Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) decisions and Court of Appeal decisions on employment law are currently available via the EAT online service, the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary’s online service and the British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII).

Decisions of the Northern Ireland industrial tribunals and the Fair Employment Tribunal are already available online.