Employment Tribunals Fast Track
by David Carter on 25 May 2010
Historically the process to enforce a Tribunal award has always been cumbersome, with several forms to complete. And once county court warrants were obtained, the success rates on collections were woefully poor.
The new Fast Track scheme, which went live last month (April 2010), introduced a speedier way for Claimants to have their awards enforced. The Ministry of Justice brought in a process that omitted the need for a plethora of forms and introduced a single form called an N471. Not only did this speed up the paperwork but it also allowed the award to be simply transferred to the High Court for enforcement purposes only. This is great news for the Claimant as HCEOs (High Court Enforcement Officers) traditionally have a far superior collection rate than county court bailiffs.
If you need to enforce a Tribunal award, all you need to do is appoint an HCEO to act for you, send them the award and a cheque for £60 for the court fee. The HCEO will then complete the paperwork for you to sign. Alternatively, you can download and complete the N471 yourself and send this with the award and £60 court fee. The HCEO will then obtain the writ on your behalf and commence enforcement.
There is no abortive fee charged for employment tribunal award enforcement, and, should enforcement be successful, the £60 court fee is recovered from the judgment debtor.
Here at The Sheriffs Office, we have already proved that the new process works. We have already enforced our first Fast Track and collected the award in full. Needless to say, the Claimant was extremely pleased to recover their money.
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Disclaimer: The statements and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Sheriffs High Court Enforcement Ltd, trading as The Sheriffs Office. Sheriffs High Court Enforcement Ltd does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. The author will not be held responsible for any comments posted by visitors to this site. Please note that this article does not constitute legal advice. The author has used his best endeavours to make this article as accurate and complete as possible, but requests that the reader be aware that the law of England and Wales frequently changes. The author strongly advises the reader to take legal advice before embarking on any enforcement action.
