Catalogue description Records of the Central Office of the Industrial Tribunals

The Central Office of Industrial Tribunals was established to co-ordinate the activities of the industrial tribunals set up under the Industrial Tribunals (England and Wales) Regulations 1965 and the Industrial Tribunals (Scotland) Regulations 1965 following the Industrial Training Act 1964. Industrial tribunals are independent judicial bodies, appointed to hear appeals and applications on legislation relating to employment and labour relations. Initially established to hear appeals against assessments to levy under the Industrial Training Act 1964, the tribunals now hear appeals under a number of Acts, dealing with matters of employment law, redundancy, dismissal, contract disputes, sexual and racial discrimination, and related areas of dispute in the workplace. The tribunals also hear appeals under other legislation, including the Redundancy Payments Act 1965, Selective Employment Payments Act 1966, the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1974 and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.

The president and full-time chairpersons of the tribunals are legally qualified officials appointed by the Lord Chancellor. Lay tribunal members are chosen from panels appointed by the minister after consultation with both sides of industry. A central registration unit based at Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, records all applications and maintains a public register. Appeals against decisions of Industrial Tribunals, where they concern questions of law, are heard by the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Administrative support is provided by the Employment Tribunals Service, an executive agency created in April 1997 to bring together the administrative support for the Industrial Tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal. In 1998, the Office became the Central Office of Employment Tribunals, part of the Employment Tribunals Service