In the recent past it has been taking the Employment Appeals Tribunal Office in the Republic of Ireland up to 6 months, from the date of receipt of an Appeal from an employee, to issue and serve the Appeal on the employer. This is not to mention the further 9 to 12 month period which it takes to get the Claim on for Hearing. Needless to say, this can be extremely frustrating for an employee who has been dismissed and seeks an early resolution of his Claim. Neither is it helpful for an employer which also will want a resolution of the Claim sooner, rather than later, so that it can ascertain if it is to be obliged to pay compensation or re-engage / reinstate the employee. Now that may all change with the creation of a new e-form by the EAT office.
A new e-form, to deal with all employment law claims to the Employment Appeals Tribunal (E.A.T.), was published on E.A.T.’s website. This can be found on the Tribunal’s homepage. The form allows for the submission of a claim under the Redundancy Payments, Unfair Dismissals or Minimum Notice Acts and the appeal or application for enforcement of a Rights Commissioner’s recommendation or decision.
As it is a “live” form, the details required will change as the person progresses through the document, which should make for a simpler process for the claimant or appellant and respondent. It is also submitted online, which should reduce the risk of applications going astray and make the reporting process of the Tribunal easier. The form does allow you to save it during the application process, allowing you to come back to it at a later date. It goes without saying that it will be important to save a copy of the final version submitted to the Tribunal for your own records.
Finally, the form provides very useful information on the Tribunal’s process for the applicant and can be found on page two.
The EAT website also states that it will process e-forms quicker than forms which are submitted manually.
For more information on Employment Law visit the Morgan McManus website at https://www.morganmcmanus.com/employment/employment_law_employee.html