Mind responds to Supreme Court ruling against employment tribunal fees

In 2013, the government introduced fees of up to £1,200 for bringing employment tribunal cases to court.

The introduction of the fees saw a 79% reduction of cases over three years and trade union Unison argued the fees were preventing many workers accessing justice.

Today, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Unison and said the government was acting unlawfully and unconstitutionally when it introduced the fees.

Paul Farmer CBE, Chief Executive of Mind, said:
“We welcome the news that the legislation that introduced employment tribunal fees has been ruled unlawful. This means that as of today you don't have to pay a fee if you bring a claim to the employment tribunal - and the Government has agreed to reimburse all fees that have been charged. The fees were prohibitive to people on lower wage, lower income jobs who may have struggled to find the costs to fund a case. Too often, people with mental health problems feel that they have been forced out of a job because of their mental health and these fees were yet another barrier for us in the fight for fairness and equality in the workplace.”