Employment Rights (Dispute Resolution) Act 1998 s.3
EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS ACT 1996 s.4
Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2004, SI 2004/1861

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.