![]() Witness statements need to be an honest portrayal of what actually happened. You can’t just cherry pick the documents that help your case, we’re sorry to say! What a lot of employers don’t realise is that within disclosure, both parties need to include evidence that may go against their case. Of course, this only works if you have good notes of the hearing but that’s a topic for another day! 5. A full and accurate minute can be found at page X of the Bundle”. ![]() Rather than setting out every “if” “and” and “but” that was mumbled during the hearing you could just say “the grievance hearing took place on X date X chaired the meeting, X was present in a HR capacity and X was accompanied by X. ![]() Likewise, you do not need to set out verbatim in your witness statement of everything that was said in a disciplinary, grievance or appeal hearing if you have included the minutes in the Joint Bundle. ![]() For example, if you are relying on a breach of a policy (such as bullying and harassment), refer to the specific page in the Joint Bundle that sets out the rule or definition. When referring to the evidence in the case, ensure you clearly cross reference to the Joint Bundle. Cross reference the evidence to your Joint Bundle If you are working with a professional representative, they will determine what is relevant for the Tribunal to consider. Just include the relevant pages and refer to them clearly. Similarly, you don’t need to refer to (or include) in the Joint Bundle the entire 150-page staff handbook if you are only going to refer to two pages of it. The Tribunal will not thank you for telling them about every policy your Company has if only one or two are relevant to the issues in the case. Include details of any relevant policies and proceduresĪgain, the key here is relevance. For example in an unfair dismissal case, demonstrate clearly that there was a fair reason for the dismissal, and why you believe you acted reasonably within the circumstances. Keep your witness statement relevant to the issues the Tribunal have to determine. Give details or an explanation of any abbreviations or phrases specific to your organisations, a ‘BYOD’ policy may mean something to you, but it won’t necessarily mean anything to the Tribunal. For example, if an employee has been dismissed for breaching a specific rule, describe the rule and what is required, and why it is so important to your business. Make sure you include a description of any process or training requirements that are relevant. Go through what happened chronologically so that it is easy to follow. Remember that the tribunal will have no knowledge of your organisation or the situation leading up to the hearing, so be sure to give them the full picture. It’s also important to include a description of the other party and describe your relationship with them. You should include details of the organisation, what you do and how large or small you are. It’s your first-hand account of what has happened to bring you to the tribunal.Īs the employer, it’s your job to provide a good narrative. Your witness statement is essentially a story to the tribunal. So, what does a good witness statement look like? We asked Claire Rosney, a Senior Employment Lawyer here at Vista… 1. Importantly, a good witness statement will address all the legal and factual issues to be considered during the hearing and will relate back to the evidence disclosed within the Joint Bundle. ![]() The witness statement is an employer’s way of setting out their stall and will discuss the reasons why, and the evidence for, the employer to successfully defend their claim. The role of the witness statement is primarily to address the issues that the employment tribunal will need to determine at the hearing. We look at what’s involved in document disclosure here. Continuing our series focussed on the employment tribunal process, we’re looking at how to write a good witness statement.Īt this stage of the employment tribunal process all the evidence has been disclosed and agreed within the Joint Bundle. ![]()
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