"Employment tribunals were established under the Industrial Training Act 1964. They were previously referred to as Industrial Tribunals, but their name was changed by s1 of the Employment Rights (Dispute Resolution) Act 1998, which took effect on 1 August 1998"(J.Nairns,2011,p.6). Now, HM Courts & Tribunals Service which is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice, supervise employment tribunals. Employment tribunals are constituted on the basis of region. In England and Wales, there are 11 regional offices of the Employment Tribunals(ROETs). There is Regional Office in each region which copes with claims from applicants in that geographical area. "Any appeal from the Employment Tribunal would be heard in the EAT(Employment Appeal Tribunal), from there by the Court of Appeal and then the House of Lords"(J.Nairns,2011,p.6). There are 9 offices of the Employment Tribunals(OETs) which are subordinating to specific ROETs where hearings occur. Nevertheless, OETs are administered by the relevant ROET under the auspices of the regional Chairman(Dennis Hunt, 2005). The jurisdiction of employment tribunals was not completely statutory until the Employment Tribunals Extension of Jurisdiction Order 1994. "When an employee is dismissed, she may well have a claim for breach of the contract of employment as well as a claim for unfair dismissal and it seemed absurd that the two claims could not both be brought in the same court. The problem was highlighted when the Wages Act 1986 was passed and apparently provided an avenue for bringing contract claims in rocketed, indicating the need for such a mechanism"(Gwyneth Pitt, 2004, p.14). That's why employment tribunals created. The main advantages of setting up employment tribunals are as the following:
1.speed, which minimizes time-wasting for both employees and
References: Andrew C. Bellv(2006), Employment law. para.1.4.3. London: Sweet & Maxwell Catherine Elliot and Frances Quinn (2009), English legal system (10th edn.) Dennis Hunt(2005), Successfully defending employment tribunals cases(2nd edn.). Great Britain: Thorogood Ltd. Gwyneth Pitt(2004), Employment law. London: Sweet & Maxwell (5th edn.) a) p.14 Gary Slapper & David Kelly (2010), The English legal system. London: Routledge-Cavendish Gillian Phillips & Karen Scott (2005), Employment law James Holland & Stuart Burnett (2007), Employment law. Oxford: Oxford University Press Janice Nairn (2011), Employment law for business students (4th edn.) Richard Kidner (1999), Blackstone 's statutes on employment law (9th edn.). Great Britain: Blackstone Press Limited David Renton (2012), Struck out: why employment tribunals fail workers and what can be done