In recent months we have seen an increase in the number of enquiries from employees who, when raising a claim at an employment tribunal, are also seeking to make an application for interim relief. However, because the threshold for interim relief is high, successful applications can be a rare occurrence. Interim relief applications can be time-consuming not only to respondent-employers but also on the employment tribunal’s resources. The repercussions may also negatively affect other claimants: an increase in interim relief applications contributes to further delays when hearings must be scheduled to accommodate the urgency of interim relief applications - a seven-day deadline.
What is interim relief?
Interim relief applications can only be made in certain specific types of automatic unfair dismissal claims. It does not apply to every claim. Common grounds include:
- Whistleblowing (making a protected disclosure)
- Trade union membership or activities
- Worker representation (health and safety or employee representatives)
It does not apply to standard unfair dismissal or discrimination claims.
Interim relief seeks to prevent financial difficulty in the period prior to the employee’s case being heard in the employment tribunal. Remedies include being reinstated or reengaged or suspended on full pay until a final hearing.
ACAS Early Conciliation is not required for an interim relief claim to be brought.
For an application to be successful, a claimant must show that their automatic unfair dismissal claim is likely to succeed and therefore it is a high threshold; you would need to show that you have a ‘’pretty good chance of success’’, not ‘’on a balance of probabilities’’.
Challenges
As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more widespread and accessible, we are finding that more and more claimants are resorting to AI to structure their grievances and claims. While AI can alleviate stress and make legal documents more accessible, claimants must exercise care and not take AI outputs at face value. For example, it is widely known that AI outputs are not always accurate and tend to produce ‘AI hallucinations’ to appease the user, regardless of whether a legal basis exists. The guidance notes remind claimants that the content needs to be concise, relevant and accurate, however, a claimant without legal training may not recognise errors made by AI.
Practical steps
- Claimants who intend to bring interim relief applications should reflect on whether their claim falls within the criterion mentioned above and understand the extent of what ‘’pretty good chance of success’’ entails.
- Employers should keep a clear, robust record of reasons for dismissal, including instances where employees have claim to whistleblow. These documents are important to establish causation (or lack thereof) in protected disclosures and dismissal.
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