Employment Tribunal reputation and customer perception
This page documents the channels which the Employment Tribunal uses to gain an insight into customers' perceptions of its reputation, the service it offers, and provides examples of comments which are made about the organisation. The channels used to gather customer views are detailed below
- National User Group
- Local User Groups
- Customer Satisfaction Survey methodology
- Survey Results
- Customer Comments Received
1. National user groups
ET has two National User Groups; one for England & Wales and one for Scotland. Meetings are held twice a year and provide customers, partners and providers with the opportunity to raise issues or concerns regarding the quality of information and service provided by the organisation.
- List of members of the National User Group (England & Wales) (PDF 16KB)
- Minutes from the Scottish User Group meeting – list of members (May 2007) (PDF 156KB)
- Minutes from the Scottish User Group meeting – list of members (December 2006) (PDF 16KB)
- Scottish National User Group minutes 25 June 2008 (PDF 60KB)
- Minutes from the National User Group meeting being listed (14 January 2008) (PDF 28KB)
- National User Group meeting (26 March 2007) (PDF 35KB)
- Minutes from the National User Group meeting (June 2006) (PDF 77KB)
- Minutes from the National User Group meeting (December 2005) (PDF 85KB)
2. Local user groups
- ET undertakes 44 user focus groups per year, held in 25 major towns and cities.
- The meetings provide customers with the opportunity to raise issues or concerns regarding the quality of information and service provided by ET.
- They are used as a forum for consultation and to encourage feedback from users on strategic issues and are represented by a range of user groups i.e. Legal professionals and others.
- A member of ET Management is always present.
| Local User Group | Secretary to the User Group | Contact Details | Frequency of Meetings | Date Meetings Held |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | Doug Easton, Secretary of the Employment Tribunals (Scotland) | Aberdeenet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk | Twice a year | 3 April 08 (PDF 30KB) |
| Ashford | Carole Turner | Ashfordet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk | Twice a year | 06 Nov 07 |
| Bedford & Watford | Lorraine Bird, Office Manager of Bedford and Watford | Bedfordet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk Watfordet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk |
Three times a year | 23 April 08 (PDF 20KB) |
| Birmingham | Mr Douglas Crump, Regional Employment Judge | Birminghamet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk | Twice a year | 19 March 08
(PDF 19KB) 21 November 07 (PDF 20KB) |
| Brighton | Lesley Grimm, Personal Secretary to Regional Employment Judge | Southamptonet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk |
Twice a year | 13 March 08 (PDF 29KB) |
| Bristol | Janet Westgarth, Personal Secretary to Regional Employment Judge | Bristolet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk | Twice a year | 13 May 08 (PDF 20KB) |
| Bury St Edmunds | Chris Kerry, Deputy Office Manager | Buryet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk | Twice a year | 22 Apr 08 (PDF 23KB) |
| Cardiff | Jonathan Bennett, Office Manager | Cardiffet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk | Twice a year | 13 Mar 08 (PDF 93KB) |
| Dundee | Doug Easton, Secretary of the Employment Tribunals (Scotland) | Dundeeet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk | Twice a year | 24 April 08 (PDF 28KB) |
| Edinburgh | Doug Easton, Secretary of the Employment Tribunals (Scotland) | Edinburghet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk | Twice a year | 28 Aug 07 (PDF 41KB) |
| Exeter | Janet Westgarth, Personal Secretary to Regional Employment Judge (Scotland) | Exeteret@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk | Twice a year | 14 May 08 (PDF 31KB) |
| Leeds & Sheffield | Ted Flanagan | Leedset@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk Sheffieldet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk |
Twice a year | 14 Mar 08 (PDF 97KB) |
| Manchester & Liverpool | Brian Doyle, Regional Employment Judge of Manchester & Liverpool | Manchesteret@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk Liverpoolet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk |
Three times a year | 17 Oct 07 (PDF 44KB) |
| Newcastle | Michael Short | Newcastleet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk |
Three times a year | 12 May 07 (PDF 43KB) |
| Norwich | Chris Kerry, Deputy Office Manager | Buryet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk |
Twice a year | 21 Apr 08 (PDF 19KB) |
| Nottingham | Christine Harvey, Personal Secretary to Regional Employment Judge | Nottinghamet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk |
Twice a year | 28 Mar 08 (PDF 46KB) |
| Reading | Lesley Grimm, Personal Secretary to Regional Employment Judge | Readinget@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk |
Twice a year | 12 Mar 08 (PDF 44KB) |
| Shrewsbury | Graham Jiggens, Office Manager | Shrewsburyet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk |
Twice a year | 18 Mar 08
(PDF 45KB) 9 Oct 07 (PDF 42KB) |
| Southampton | Lesley Grimm, Personal Secretary to Regional Employment Judge | Southamptonet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk |
Twice a year | 5 Mar 08 (PDF 46KB) |
| Stratford | Rabia Mohamed, Personal Secretary to Regional Employment Judge | Stratfordet@tribunals.gsi.gov.uk |
Twice a year | 23 Apr 08 (PDF 21KB) |
3. Customer Satisfaction Survey methodology
- Annual survey sent to all users, within an agreed, set timeframe.
- Quantities sent out - circulation for the most recent survey was 7136.
- Response rates - varies each year and has ranged between 11.5% - 20.8%.
4. Survey results
- 2006 satisfaction rate – 96% full results of 2006 survey (PDF 44KB)
- 2005 satisfaction rate – 94.6% full results of 2005 survey (PDF 139KB)
- 2004 satisfaction rate – 97.5%
- 2003 satisfaction rate – 95.6%
We have benchmarked our survey with the Opinion Research Corporation and have incorporated a number of the identified best practices.
In addition to our survey, we encourage users to comment on our service by issuing all visitors with a User Information/Comment Sheet which details fire procedures, building facilities and tribunal procedures on the front with a comment template on its reverse.
Results are analysed quarterly and a report is produced for the Operations Director and Senior Operations Managers. Comments, compliments and complaints are displayed along with resultant actions locally in public areas within each tribunal office.
Our complaints booklet "Feedback - A positive step forward" is also used to gain an insight into customer's perceptions and is available in public areas within tribunal offices.
5. Customer Comments Received
Comments received are all documented as part of the final survey report. The quantities received generally fall in line with the survey final score, i.e. 80% positive, 20% negative. A summary selection of survey comments received is given below.
Positive comments
"Friendliness of staff, helpfulness of staff." - Aberdeen
"In dealing with the ET administration your staff not only seek to deal with any query that may arise to the highest standards but also in addition try to deal with anticipated problems." - Edinburgh
"Staff always helpful - even in respect of most trivial queries and hit the right note between formality and friendliness." - Glasgow
"Government and state funded organisations and departments normally carry a certain stigma with regards to service levels, all be lack of it. It is certainly refreshing to have experienced excellent service and more so elements of exceptional communication. This I believe is of up most importance and relevance concerning this commercial environment." - London South
"Staff are professional yet friendly which is very reassuring in what is a stressful experience." - Manchester
"I am very impressed with how staff deal with enquiries, getting to grips with the issues, especially bearing in mind how many they must have to deal with." - Nottingham
"Staff are always extremely helpful both on the telephone and in person at the hearings." - Southampton
"I was very nervous when I attended and your staff were very good to me." - Birmingham
"Clerks at all tribunals I have been to are polite, helpful and always keep parties updated. I also have noted how helpful they are with unrepresented litigants who need explanations and additional support." - Bristol
"One is already very nervous for a tribunal and you don't need extra aggravation. Staff were all friendly with a smile and helpful. This to me was very important." - Ashford
"The clerks were the best part for me as they made me more relaxed and explained the proceedings etc." - Cardiff
"I found your service to be extremely efficient and informative but the main thing which I found to be the most important was that I was treated with the greatest respect and was spoken to as an equal and not spoken down to. Everything was explained to me in plain and simple English." - Leicester
"Generally speaking the clerks are courteous, pleasant and always try to help." - Stratford
"Being able to communicate with the Tribunal office by email enabled the flexibility I required whilst away from my home address. It provided peace of mind. Immediate confirmation of receipt of any communication from me. Able to amend date of pre-hearing." - Shrewsbury
"Arrangements for a disabled client and a claimant who was breast feeding were undertaken with sympathy and was well conducted." - Exeter
Negative comments
"Less use of jargon in written communication, the tribunal service should be accessible to people who are not legally trained, but it is not." - Liverpool
"Ensure that the guidance is clear and understandable for both parties. Time could be saved at the tribunal if the information was more accurate in the lead up." - Stratford
"Some of the address boxes on the electronic ET3 are not log enough to our address." - Nottingham
"Where written reasons are requested they sometimes take longer to come than I would prefer." - Liverpool
"Person answering the phone should be able to deal with a query about the case and locate relevant file." - Stratford
"I believe the implementation of the statutory grievance and dismissal procedures are cumbersome and give rise to procedural difficulties without actually resolving disputes." - Nottingham
"Explain more about the documentation required, for example we were asked to provide a "joint bundle" of documents. We did not understand this term. Also the schedule of loss document was very ambiguous and difficult to understand." - Bedford
"After a tribunal hearing when the claimant has been awarded money I would have appreciated a verbal explanation of what to do next to recover that money rather just reading a booklet." - Birmingham
"Sometimes the letters sent do not make sense i.e. they could be written in more simple terms so that it is clearly understood what is required." - Leeds
"The people who deal with telephone queries; they appear inexperienced and lack essential knowledge." - Watford
"I believe the implementation of the statutory grievance and dismissal procedures are cumbersome and give rise to the procedural difficulties without actually resolving disputes." - Nottingham
"The service needs to recognise that responses filed online or other communication undertaken via the web on or close to time ,li its as being filed in the date of transfer to ET server which is not necessarily the date on which staff access and subsequently log documents." - Leeds
