You have received a Labour Tribunal application. Now what?

The envelope from the Labour Tribunal arrives, and the first instinct in most companies is indignation — the termination was justified, the file proves it. That may be true. It is also, in the first week, beside the point.

The point in week one is procedure. Note the date of first hearing, instruct counsel, and begin assembling the record: contract, appointment letter, disciplinary correspondence, inquiry notes and the termination letter itself. Tribunals decide on documents contemporaneous with the events, not on recollections assembled later.

Next, understand what the Tribunal actually decides. It is not bound by the strict terms of the contract; it makes the order that is 'just and equitable'. That standard gives the Tribunal wide latitude — which is precisely why procedural fairness at the time of termination matters so much.

Then do the settlement mathematics honestly. Contested applications commonly run for years. Compute the realistic award range, add counsel's fees and management time, and compare that number to what the applicant would accept today. Companies that run this calculation early settle well; companies that run it in year three settle expensively.

None of this means every case should settle — some claims must be defended on principle or precedent. But that should be a decision, made early, with the numbers on the table.