Interim relief has long been one of the more powerful remedies available to former employees in certain Employment Tribunal claims, but most employers will have had little direct experience of it. That may begin to change with the rise of AI.

AI tools are making it easier for employees and former employees to find legal information quickly, including information about remedies that have historically been little used or poorly understood outside specialist employment law circles. For employers, the risk is not simply that more individuals may become aware of interim relief, but in failing to understand that interim relief applications must be dealt with comprehensively and urgently in circumstances where the business has very little time to prepare its response.

Interim relief is subject to strict rules. It is not available in every employment claim, and the Tribunal will not grant it lightly. Even so, employers should be aware of what interim relief is, and what they should do when faced with an interim relief application, in order to mitigate risk and protect their business. 

What interim relief means in practice

Interim relief allows a claimant, in certain types of unfair dismissal claim, to ask the Employment Tribunal for protection while the underlying case is waiting to be heard. In practice, it means the employer is ordered to reinstate or reengage the employee pending the determination of the unfair dismissal claim, or, if the employer does not agree to either reinstate or reengage the employee, to continue to pay the employee’s pay and benefits pending the final hearing. 

Reinstatement means that the employee is put back into the same job that they were dismissed from, and reengagement means that they are given another job on no less favourable terms and conditions. 

The remedy of interim relief is available only in limited categories of unfair dismissal case, including dismissals on grounds of whistleblowing, trade union activity, and health and safety activities. It is not available in ordinary unfair dismissal claims, and it does not apply where an employee complains of having suffered a detriment short of dismissal.

The financial consequences are very significant. If interim relief is granted, the employer may not have to accept the individual physically back into the workplace, but it will still have to put them back on the payroll with effect from the date of their dismissal, and continue to pay them and provide them with benefits as if they had never been dismissed. Given current delays in the Tribunal system, that obligation can potentially continue for years before the claim is finally determined. 

Why the timetable creates such pressure

The defining feature of interim relief is speed. An application must be made within seven days of dismissal. The first time the employer will be aware of the application is when it receives an urgent Notice of Interim Relief Hearing with a copy of the accompanying claim. The employer will have only a short window to prepare for this hearing, which could be as little as a week.

Preparation for an interim relief hearing can involve as much work as preparing for a full trial, but in a fraction of the time. It will involve gathering all relevant documents, drafting a formal response to the allegations,  and preparing witness evidence and evidence bundles. The Tribunal will require witness statements and documents to be served before the hearing, usually three days prior, reducing the preparation time even further.

Employers should not mistake a short timetable for an informal process. An interim relief hearing requires detailed preparation because the employer must produce evidence to show why the underlying claim is unlikely to succeed, and, in particular, why the dismissal was for a reason unrelated to any protected disclosure, trade union activity or health and safety complaint, as the case may be.

Turning up at the hearing and hoping to explain matters orally, without any documentary evidence or witness statements, is a risky approach.

How AI tools may alter the risk

The practical effect of AI tools lies in speed and discoverability. A dismissed employee who believes they have been treated unfairly can now look for remedies within minutes, including remedies that may previously have remained little known to the general public.

That search may lead an employee quickly towards whistleblowing language and interim relief, even if the legal merits of the claim are weak. AI tools do not tend to encourage employees to think critically about their case and in particular whether it has any actual merit. Employers and advisers are therefore now increasingly encountering interim relief applications in situations where they might once have been unusual.

Even where the employer has a strong answer to the claim, a lengthy AI-assisted submission may contain errors, irrelevant material or overconfident legal assertions that must nonetheless be addressed. Clients and their advisers will still have to review the material, test it against the facts and prepare the evidence needed to respond.

Why the evidence trail is crucial

Interim relief applications will only succeed if the tribunal is satisfied that it is “likely” that the Claimant will win their case at the final hearing of the claim. In whistleblowing cases, that will include the tribunal finding that the employee in fact was a whistleblower, and that they were dismissed because of it. The employer will therefore need to show that the employee does not meet the legal definition of a whistleblower, and/or that their dismissal was for an entirely different reason unconnected with whistleblowing, such as misconduct, poor performance, redundancy or another legitimate business rationale.

Timing can make this more difficult. If an employee raises a complaint shortly before their dismissal, it is much easier for them to argue that the two events are connected. The employer will need evidence to show what actually happened, who knew what, when decisions were made and why the stated reason for dismissal was the real one.

The stronger and clearer the contemporaneous evidence, the better placed the employer will be to resist an interim relief application. Trying to reconstruct the reasoning after the event is much harder, particularly when the hearing may be only days away.

What employers should do now

Employers should be especially careful before dismissing an employee who has recently complained about wrongdoing, legal compliance, health and safety, or another matter that could potentially fall within whistleblowing protection.

Before taking a dismissal decision, employers should consider whether specialist advice is needed. They should also ensure that the reason for dismissal is clearly communicated and supported by the evidence. If the dismissal is for misconduct, poor performance, redundancy or another legitimate reason, the documentation should make that clear.

Employers should ensure that their HR and management teams are alert to and recognise employment tribunal claims, and in particular, urgent Notice of Interim Relief Hearings, which may not be sent to the company’s head office . If an employer receives notice of an interim relief hearing they should act immediately. The relevant documents need to be gathered, the decision-maker(s) notified, and witness evidence prepared quickly. In a whistleblowing case, the employer will need evidence to show that either that there was no protected disclosure, or if there was, that the relevant decision-maker did not know about it, or if they did, that the dismissal was for reasons unrelated to it. That will include obtaining a witness statement from the decision maker(s) as to their reasons for taking the decision to dismiss.

Employers should also make sure that managers and HR teams recognise the situations in which interim relief risk may arise, and that dismissal decisions are properly evidenced at the time, not reconstructed under pressure later.

How Arbor Law can help

Arbor Law advises employers on sensitive dismissals, whistleblowing risk and urgent Employment Tribunal applications.

We help clients assess risk before decisions are taken, prepare the evidence trail and respond quickly where interim relief is sought. That includes advising on the legal basis of the application, identifying the evidence needed to resist it, preparing a response to the claim and witness statements, and supporting employers through the compressed timetable that these hearings can create.

Where AI tools make legal remedies easier to find, employers need to be equally clear about their own decision-making.

FAQs

What is interim relief in employment law?

Interim relief is a remedy available in certain Employment Tribunal dismissal claims. If granted, requires the employer to reinstate or reengage the employee pending the final hearing of the unfair dismissal claim, or, if the employer does not want to either reinstate or reengage the employee, to continue the employee’s pay and contractual benefits while the underlying claim is waiting to be heard. It is a powerful remedy because the financial consequences for employers may continue for a long period before the final hearing takes place.

When can an employee make an interim relief application? 

Interim relief is only available in limited categories of unfair dismissal claim, including certain claims involving whistleblowing, trade union activity and health and safety matters. It is not available in ordinary unfair dismissal claims, and it does not generally apply where the employee alleges detriment short of dismissal.

What is the deadline for an interim relief application? 

An employee must apply for interim relief within seven days of dismissal. If the Tribunal lists the application for hearing, the employer may have as little as 7 days’ notice of the hearing, and therefore very little time to gather documents, prepare witness evidence and respond properly.

Why can interim relief be a risk in whistleblowing dismissal claims?

Interim relief can be available where an employee claims they were dismissed because they blew the whistle. If the dismissal followed a complaint, concern or disclosure that amounts to whistleblowing, the employer will need to show quickly that the dismissal was for a different reason, such as misconduct, poor performance, redundancy or another permitted reason for dismissal.

How could AI tools affect interim relief claims? 

AI tools make it easier for dismissed employees to identify less common legal remedies, including interim relief. Where an employee has raised concerns before dismissal, they may use AI tools to frame the situation as a whistleblowing dismissal, even where the legal merits are weak. Employers still need to review and respond to the application carefully and urgently, even where the claim has no merit.

What should employers do if they receive an interim relief application?

Employers should act immediately. The relevant documents need to be gathered, and witness evidence prepared quickly. In a whistleblowing case, the employer will need evidence to show that there was no protected disclosure, and/or that the decision-maker did not know about it, and/or that the dismissal was for reasons unrelated to it.