Employment barrister · Direct Access
The tribunal is there for you — but you have to do it right, from day one.
It was designed for people to represent themselves. But the system around it has grown complicated enough that the order you do things in — and getting them right — matters from the very start. That's what this site is for.
I think of an Employment Tribunal claim as a process, almost like a game: miss a step, or take it out of order, and you can lose your right to be heard — however strong your complaint. I'm Michael Salter, an employment barrister at 42BR Barristers, London. I've spent over 20 years in employment tribunals, acting for both employees and employers, so the map you're following here is the real one. I built this site to walk you through the process stage by stage, in plain English, before you get there. You don't need a solicitor to instruct me — whether you want to do it yourself or have me do it for you, it starts with knowing where you are.
Start here
Where are you in your claim?
Pick the stage you are at. I will show you what is involved — and send you a plain-English guide for exactly that point.
Not sure where to start? Enter your email and I will send the full 9-stage guide.
Straight from search
Popular topics
The pages people reach for most. Each is a full topic hub — reachable here and from the menu on every page.
Case Management Hearings
The AGENDA method — what a CMH is, why it happens and how to prepare.
Open topic →Strike Out
When a claim or response can be struck out, and how it is decided.
Open topic →Schedules of Loss
Valuing a claim: how a schedule of loss is built.
Open topic →Injury to Feelings
The Vento bands and how awards are approached.
Open topic →Witness Statements
What a good statement does and how they are used.
Open topic →Preliminary Issues
Employee status, time limits and other threshold questions.
Open topic →Going further
Two ways to go further
The guidance on this site is free and always will be. When you want more, there are two distinct routes — learn it yourself, or have it done for you.
Learn it yourself
Self-study products you buy and use on your own, from a short book to a full workbook or course.
- Books on unfair dismissal, discrimination and whistleblowing — from £14.97
- Step-by-step workbooks, starting with the CMH Workbook — from £47
- The AGENDA Method Course and others like it — from £127
- Free updates as the law changes
Have it done for you
Work I do for you directly, on a Direct Access basis — no solicitor required.
- CMH Preparation Service — from £400
- Position Statement and other drafting
- A sanity-check on preparation you've already done