In general, an Employment Tribunal is made up of three members, a legally qualified chairman (known as an employment judge since December 2007 - see Acts of Parliament etc/Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 ), a representative of employees and a representative of employers (see Employment tribunals/constitution and history of ).

Under the 2004 Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure many matters coming to an employment tribunal can be dealt with by either a tribunal or by a chairman (employment judge) sitting alone and some must be dealt with by a chairman sitting on his own (see Procedure of Employment Tribunals/2004 rules ). However the full hearing of a claim must be dealt with by a full tribunal (see Procedure of Employment Tribunals/2004 rules/rule 26 - Hearings ).

Under Employment Tribunals Act 1996 s.4 as amended by the Employment Rights (Dispute Resolution) Act 1998 there are various situations in which a tribunal chairman is required to sit on his own if he makes a positive decision that it would be appropriate to do so.

Some additions to the type of case which can be heard by an employment judge sitting alone were made with effect from 6th April 2009 by the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 (Tribunal Composition) Order 2009, SI 2009/789.

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