Making a claim to an employment tribunal is now quicker, easier and less stressful thanks to a redesign of the online service. The latest version passed its service standard assessment last week, giving it the green light to lose its beta branding. Good news for the lawyers and members of the public who use it, and for the service team who built it.
Paper trail
It all started with a paper form; one written back when computers seemed like the stuff of science fiction. Times and technology moved on and in 2013 the first (beta) employment tribunal service was launched online. Our aim was to further simplify the beta service, to save time and stress for the thousands of people who use it each year.
Testing
People who use the employment tribunal service can be roughly cut into 2 groups - individuals who feel they have been treated unfairly at work, and the legal professionals who represent them. We tested the service with both groups throughout development, leading to a raft of improvements, including:
- a more logical flow through the online form
- clearer language, with less legal jargon
- an improved start page, with important information up-front
- an easier way of uploading group claims
We also added one crucial feature…
Save and return
The online form is 12 pages long and records every detail of a claim. One of the biggest gripes with the beta service was that it had to be completed in one sitting. We added the ability to save and return, and over half of people who start the form are using this feature.
Our work is never done
The service may have passed its assessment but that doesn’t mean the job is finished. What is now available is just the latest version of a continually evolving product. We’ll keep asking users how we can improve it, and make changes based on their needs. Some improvements which are already in the pipeline include improving the document upload function and further reducing the number of pages. Then onto the next one: building better, more user-focused government services.
If you have made a claim to an employment tribunal, we would like to hear about your experience to help improve the service for others.
Please email: atet@ministryofjustice.zendesk.com
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