Mr Deputy Speaker , Again , I have some sympathy here , but the lack of success of most tribunals does not mean that the cases don ' t have merit just that they are unsuccessful . There was outcry regarding legal aid for the wealthy a few years ago , how is subsidising tribunal fees for companies any different ? Also , you have to consider the scale of legal fees that can be racked up by employers defending cases , and the effect this is likely to have on people taking action to tribunal . For example , should I perhaps once a parttime public sector employee , take my Local Authority to tribunal with a good claim and lose the fact that my ability to pursue the case is severely hampered by my limited finances as opposed to my employer with published reserves of 28 million , is completely disproportionate . Do you imagine that my pursuit of the case will be equitable with their ability to defend it ? And I will reiterate , it is desperation that forces the majority of employees down the tribunal route , not some malicious intent . In my experience the amount of malicious claims is incredibly small , when compared to the number of claims with merit , that just cannot meet the burden of proof at tribunal . Indeed , merely getting the case to tribunal is some indication that the claim has merit , in the vast majority of claims . And as for the companies paying legal fees in the unsuccessful claims , an alternative viewpoint of tribunal is that they are an extension of disciplinary and grievance procedurespolicies , which are administered at a companies own expense they are just more independent and have a finality . Dispute resolution between employer and employee has to end somewhere , and why should tribunal fees not be paid by them ? They have the ability to pay , have failed to resolve a dispute on their own terms , at their own expense , and despite not having the figures I would warrant that the huge disparity between employer fees and employee fees makes any legal costs massively slanted towards the employer . They have the ability to resolve the matter at any stage up to and including during the tribunal . Do you advocate that victims of crime whose case is not won at criminal trial should personally pay the costs of the accused ? I know the two are not equitable , but there is certainly similarity .