Chris Bryden & Michael Salter discuss presidential guidance
Previous iterations of the Employment Tribunal Rules of Procedure provided for the making of practice directions. The Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/1237) do not alter this settled procedure, but they additionally permit the promulgation of Presidential Guidance by the sitting President (r 7 of the 2013 Rules (contained within reg 13(1), Sch 1 of the 2013 Regulations)).
In both s 7A of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (ETA 1996) and r 7 of the 2013 Rules the word “guidance” is used. ETA 1996 states that guidance about the application or interpretation or the making of decisions by members of the employment tribunal, unlike practice directions, do not require the approval of the senior president of the lord chancellor. Rule 7 of the 2013 Rules requires that the president publishes any guidance “in an appropriate manner to bring it to the attention of claimants, respondents and their advisors” and that the Guidance is to cover “matters of practice and as to how the powers conferred by these Rules may be
