Civil courts and alternative dispute resolution

High Court and County Court employment claims

Most employment rights arise from statute and disputes relating to them are generally within the exclusive jurisdiction of the employment tribunal. This includes:

1. •

   claims for unfair dismissal (see our Unfair dismissal—overview), and

2. •

   prohibited conduct claims (discrimination, harassment etc) under the Equality Act 2010 (see our Practice Note: Employment events which give rise to discrimination, harassment and victimisation claims)

Other types of employment or employment-related dispute:

1. •

   may be brought in the High Court or County Court, or may alternatively be brought instead in the employment tribunal

2. •

   must only be brought before the High Court or County Court

Whereas employment tribunals derive their jurisdiction exclusively from statute, the civil courts largely have their own inherent jurisdiction and may deal with a wide variety of common law and other claims.

For further information, see our Practice Note: High Court and County Court employment claims, which examines the employment-related claims that either may or must be brought in the High Court or County Court. It gives an overview of the procedure applicable to employment-related