Introduction
Employment tribunal decisions are public. Anyone can search them, free of charge, without an account. Most people never do, though, mostly because the register isn’t especially intuitive to use. This guide explains how to search it properly, what the results actually show, and how to read a judgment once you’ve found one.
Table of Contents
- What the Register Actually Contains
- How to Search Effectively
- What a Simple Search Won’t Show You
- How to Actually Read a Judgment
- Who Actually Uses This Register, and Why
- Do Tribunal Decisions Set Precedent?
- Judgments Older Than February 2017
- Staying Updated on New Decisions
- Contact Us for Employment Tribunal Support
- Final Thoughts
- Frequently Asked Questions
What the Register Actually Contains
The official register holds over 130,000 published decisions as of 2026. It covers England, Wales, and Scotland. Coverage starts from February 2017, when the register first launched. Each entry usually includes the full written judgment, where one exists. This means detailed factual findings, the tribunal’s reasoning, and the final outcome, all in one document.
Northern Ireland runs a separate tribunal system entirely. Its decisions aren’t part of this register at all.
How to Search Effectively
Search by Keyword
The register offers a simple free-text search box. You can enter a company name, a person’s name, or a relevant keyword. Different spellings or former trading names sometimes produce different results, so it’s worth trying a few variations if your first search comes up short.
Filter by Jurisdiction, Date, and Country
Beyond keywords, you can filter results by jurisdiction code. This covers categories like unfair dismissal, discrimination, or breach of contract. You can also filter by date range and by country. One practical tip: results don’t sort chronologically by default. Applying a date filter tends to work better than scrolling through unsorted results.
Reading the Case Number
Every case has a reference number, something like 3302815/2024. The number after the slash tells you the year the claim was originally lodged. Comparing that against the decision date gives you a rough sense of how long the case actually took. This is a highly practical shortcut once you know it exists.
What a Simple Search Won’t Show You
It’s worth setting expectations here. A basic search returns a case name, the words “Employment Tribunal decision,” and a date. That’s it. There’s no summary, no outcome shown upfront, and no indication of what the case was actually about beyond the jurisdiction code. Finding genuinely relevant material means opening judgments one at a time and reading them properly. This is slower than most people expect going in.
How to Actually Read a Judgment
The Structure of a Typical Decision
Most written judgments follow a similar shape. They start by identifying the parties and the claim being brought. They then set out the tribunal’s findings of fact, based on the evidence heard. After that comes the legal reasoning, applying the relevant test to those facts. The judgment ends with the tribunal’s conclusion and, where applicable, a remedy.
Reading the findings of fact section carefully matters most. This is where you’ll understand what the tribunal actually believed happened, as opposed to what either side argued.
Written Reasons vs a Bare Outcome
Not every judgment includes detailed written reasons. Some entries record only a bare outcome, particularly for straightforward or undefended cases. If you’re researching a specific type of claim, a case with full written reasons will generally teach you far more than one without them.
Who Actually Uses This Register, and Why
A few groups rely on this resource regularly, each for slightly different reasons. Employees researching their own potential claim often search for cases involving a similar issue, to get a sense of how tribunals have approached comparable facts before. Employers and HR teams use it for due diligence, checking whether a prospective business partner, supplier, or even a candidate’s former employer has a relevant tribunal history worth knowing about. Journalists and researchers search it for genuinely newsworthy cases or broader trends across a sector. Solicitors use it too, though usually alongside more specialised legal databases that add case summaries and cross-referencing the public register doesn’t offer.
Whatever your reason for searching, the same practical approach applies: start specific, expect to open several judgments before finding what you need, and read the findings of fact properly rather than skimming for an outcome.
Do Tribunal Decisions Set Precedent?
This is worth understanding clearly. First-instance Employment Tribunal decisions don’t create binding precedent. Other tribunals aren’t required to follow them, even on very similar facts. Binding precedent comes from the Employment Appeal Tribunal and higher courts instead, and those decisions are published separately from this register entirely.
That doesn’t make first-instance decisions useless. They can still be highly persuasive, and they show you how tribunals have approached similar situations in practice. Just treat them as illustrative rather than authoritative. It’s also worth knowing that a published judgment generally can’t be removed once it’s on the register, even under ordinary data protection rules. This cuts both ways: it’s why the record stays available for research like this, and it’s also why any case involving you or your business would remain visible too.
Judgments Older Than February 2017
The online register doesn’t cover decisions from before it launched. For older England and Wales judgments, enquiries generally go through Norwich Magistrates’ Court and Family Court instead. Older Scottish decisions are handled by the Glasgow Tribunals Centre. Neither route offers the same convenient online search the current register provides, so expect a slower, more manual process for anything from that period.
Staying Updated on New Decisions
If you’re tracking a particular employer or claim type over time, checking manually gets tedious quickly. The register offers email alerts and an Atom feed instead. Subscribing to either means new matching judgments reach you automatically, rather than requiring repeated manual searches.
Contact Us for Employment Tribunal Support
Understanding how to search and interpret employment tribunal decisions can genuinely help you assess a situation, whether you’re researching a claim of your own or looking into a business you’re dealing with.
Final Thoughts
The Employment Tribunal decisions register is a genuinely useful, free public resource once you know how it actually works. Searching by keyword, filtering by jurisdiction and date, and reading the case number all help you find relevant material faster. Understanding that these decisions aren’t binding precedent, and reading a judgment’s findings of fact properly rather than skimming the outcome, turns a search result into something genuinely useful.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are employment tribunal decisions public?
Yes. They’re published on a free, publicly accessible online register covering England, Wales, and Scotland, generally including the full written judgment where one exists.
How far back does the register go?
Coverage starts from February 2017. Older decisions aren’t available through the same online search and generally require contacting the relevant court or tribunal centre directly.
Are employment tribunal decisions legally binding on other cases?
No. First-instance decisions don’t create binding precedent, though they can still be persuasive. Binding precedent comes from the Employment Appeal Tribunal and higher courts, published separately.
Can a judgment be removed from the register?
Generally no. Published judgments remain on the register and aren’t removed simply because they’ve become inconvenient for one of the parties involved.
Why does the case number matter?
The number after the slash shows the year the claim was originally lodged, letting you roughly work out how long the case took by comparing it against the decision date.
How do I keep track of new decisions without searching manually?
The register offers email alerts and an Atom feed, both of which deliver new matching judgments automatically once you subscribe.