Employment Tribunal Hearing File Requirements (Presidential Guidance, effective 4 June 2026)

The Employment Tribunal calls it a hearing file, not a bundle, and the electronic rules only bite when the tribunal has ordered electronic documents and at least one party is represented. Three rules run against the grain of every other court: do not bookmark every document, no white fonting, and the file must not have separately numbered sections. A Bates-numbered bundle that is correct in the family court is wrong here.

Governing document

Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals)

Presidents of the Employment Tribunals (England & Wales and Scotland) · effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance)
Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals) (effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance))

Checked against the published source on 15 August 2026.

The numbers, in one place

Page limit	None No page cap in the Presidential Guidance.
File size	20MB Paragraph 25 sets 20MB as the threshold for how documents are sent to the tribunal.
Resolution	not greater than 300 dpi A ceiling only.
Pagination	Arabic, continuous from page 1 Western Arabic numerals only, sequential from page 1, and no separately numbered sections. Roman numerals or letter-prefixed sections breach para 24.5.
When these rules bite	See note Paragraphs 24.1 to 24.15 apply when a tribunal has ordered the parties to send documents for a hearing in an electronic format and at least one of them is a represented party. Unrepresented parties are encouraged to comply so far as possible but are not bound.

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Every rule, in the source's own words

Quotations below are verbatim. Where a rule is best practice carried from another regime rather than a requirement of the governing document, it says so in the row.

Requirement	What the rule actually says	Where it comes from
PDF format must	“Any other electronic documents, including witness statements, must be in PDF format.”	Presidential Guidance para 24.2 Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals) (effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance))
Index at the front and hyperlinked, or a separate PDF should	“The index to the hearing file must either be at the front of the hearing file (and hyperlinked to the page in the hearing file to which the index refers) or saved in a separate PDF document that is sent to the tribunal alongside the hearing file.” There are two compliant answers here. A file with no internal index is still correct if the index went to the tribunal as a separate PDF, so we report this rather than failing it outright.	Presidential Guidance para 24.3 Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals) (effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance))
Numbered electronically, not by hand must	“All pages in the hearing file must be numbered electronically and not by hand.”	Presidential Guidance para 24.4 Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals) (effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance))
Western Arabic numerals, no separately numbered sections must	“The first page must be numbered page 1, whether or not the first page is an index. Each page must be numbered sequentially until the last page of the hearing file. The numbering must use standard Western Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) and not using other systems (such as Roman numerals or letters). The hearing file must not have separately numbered sections.” This is the exact opposite of the family Bates rule. Do not carry A1/B1 numbering into an Employment Tribunal hearing file.	Presidential Guidance para 24.5 Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals) (effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance))
Page numbers match the PDF's electronic numbering must	“The page numbers on each page must match the PDF's electronic page numbering and the page numbering of any printed copy of the hearing file”	Presidential Guidance para 24.6 Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals) (effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance))
Significant documents bookmarked — but not every document must	“Significant documents (such as a letter of dismissal or an appeal outcome letter) must be bookmarked. The bookmark must be a brief description including the date (using the UK system) if appropriate, e.g. "list of issues", "dismissal letter 01/04/25"; "appeal outcome 24/07/25". Do not bookmark every single document; this makes the bookmarks less useful.”	Presidential Guidance para 24.7 Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals) (effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance))
Selective bookmarking check yourself	“Do not bookmark every single document; this makes the bookmarks less useful.” Unique to the Employment Tribunal. Everywhere else, more bookmarks is better. We flag a very high bookmark count for you to look at; we never fail it, because only you know which documents are significant.	Presidential Guidance para 24.7 Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals) (effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance))
OCR saved as an invisible searchable layer must	“All pages must be subjected to OCR (optical character recognition) and the resulting text saved as an invisible, searchable layer within the document.”	Presidential Guidance para 24.8 Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals) (effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance))
No white fonting must	“No documents should contain any white fonting/white text.” No other regime says this. It usually catches redaction done by colouring text white rather than removing it.	Presidential Guidance para 24.9 Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals) (effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance))
No page sideways-on or upside down must	“Any page that has been in a landscape orientation must be reorientated so that it can be read from left to right. A page must not appear sideways-on or upside down.”	Presidential Guidance para 24.10 Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals) (effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance))
Default view 100% should	“The default view for all pages should be 100%.”	Presidential Guidance para 24.11 Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals) (effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance))
All pages resized to A4 should	“All pages should be resized so they are A4 size. If a page is necessarily a significantly different size (for example, it is A3 size because it is a plan), the parties must provide that document in a separate PDF or apply to the tribunal for directions.”	Presidential Guidance para 24.12 Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals) (effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance))
Not greater than 300 dpi should	“The resolution of the hearing file should not be greater than 300 dpi. The hearing file should be electronically optimised to ensure that the file size is no larger than necessary.”	Presidential Guidance para 24.14 Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals) (effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance))
When these rules apply at all check yourself	“Paragraphs 24.1 to 24.15 below apply when a tribunal has ordered the parties to send documents for a hearing in an electronic format and at least one of them is a represented party.” If both parties are unrepresented, the guidance encourages compliance rather than requiring it. Presidential Guidance is something tribunals must have regard to; it does not bind them the way a practice direction does.	Presidential Guidance para 24 Presidential Guidance — General Case Management (Employment Tribunals) (effective 4 June 2026 (revokes the 2020 guidance))

Where this court differs from the others

This is the part that causes wasted work: a bundle built correctly for one court can breach the rules of another. Applying the wrong court's rulebook is the most common way a compliant bundle gets called non-compliant.

Index links

Family (PD27A)	Index entries must be "added to" the indexed document. Hyperlinking is best practice carried from other regimes, not an express PD27A requirement.
Administrative Court, King's Bench (10.21)	Hyperlinked index is mandatory.
Court of Appeal	Hyperlinks OR bookmarks, "as appropriate".
Chancery, Commercial	Hyperlinked "if possible".
SEND Tribunal	Hyperlinks "ideally".
Employment Tribunal	Index hyperlinked at the front, OR supplied as a separate PDF.

Pagination

Financial remedy	Arabic, continuous, and the computer numbering must match the PDF page labels.
Family, not financial remedy	Bates numbering: A1, A2 … B1, B2 … by section.
Employment Tribunal, SEND Tribunal	Sequential Arabic from 1. Sections must NOT be separately numbered.
Chancery, Commercial	Where a bundle is split across files, pagination begins afresh in each file.
Administrative Court, King's Bench	First page of the PDF is page 1, index pages included.

Bookmark density

Everywhere except the Employment Tribunal	All significant documents and all sections.
Employment Tribunal	Significant documents only — "Do not bookmark every single document".

Resolution

Nearly all of the regimes on this page	Not greater than 300 dpi — a ceiling only.
Administrative Court, King's Bench (10.21)	About 200 to 300 dpi — a floor as well as a ceiling.

Page and size caps

Family, financial remedy	350 pages, court permission to exceed. In financial remedy, position statements and composite documents do not count towards it.
Court of Appeal	350 pages on the supplementary bundle; 50MB split threshold.
Administrative Court, criminal	20mb, with a core bundle above it. Core bundle required over 400 pages (PD 54A 16).
SEND Tribunal	Core bundle 100 pages; EHC plan part 150; further caps by appeal type.
Chancery, Commercial, King's Bench	No page cap.

What actually happened when bundles went wrong

Go Capital Ltd v Phull [2020] EWHC 1235 (Ch) — Judicial criticism of the bundle

The defect list that still gets cited: no selectable text, no bookmarks, multiple competing page numbers, missing pages, and two indexes that were not hyperlinked.

Being straight about this: No reported case imposes wasted costs solely for bundle defects. The only money outcome we can point to is Y v X (Costs) [2026] EWFC 35 (B), where bundle preparation fees were disallowed. None of these outcomes is a fine. Courts do not fine parties for bundle format. Every case above pre-dates the Practice Direction 27A that came into force on 2 March 2026. As at 15 August 2026 there is no reported judgment under the new PD27A. The underlying duties are materially similar, but nobody can yet cite a decision on the new wording.

What we cannot tell you

No Civil Procedure Rule anywhere mandates bookmarks, OCR or hyperlinks in an electronic civil bundle. Those requirements come from judicial guidance and court guides, which a judge may vary in your case.
The enacted PD27A says index entries must be "added to" the indexed document, not "hyperlinked to". We treat hyperlinking as best practice for family bundles and label it as such. Published commentary usually says "hyperlinked" because it is quoting the 2021 guidance, which no longer applies to family proceedings.
PD27A 4.8 promises further HMCTS guidance on bundles. As at 15 August 2026 it has not been published.
The 50MB figure in the Court of Appeal and King's Bench guides descends from the revoked PD 51O. Treat it as guide-level practice, not law. CPR PD 5C sets a 100MB electronic filing cap and carves bundles out of the pilot.
Employment Tribunal Presidential Guidance is something a tribunal must have regard to. It does not bind in the way a practice direction does.
This tool checks the format of a PDF. It cannot tell you whether a document belongs in the bundle, whether a bookmark description is good enough, or whether your case is ready. Those are judgement calls and we report them as such.

Check my bundle against these rules — free

Pick your court, pick your PDF. The file is read in your browser and never leaves your device. Free verdict plus your first three issues; the full report is £4.99.

Other courts

FamilyFPR Practice Direction 27A Financial remedyFPR Practice Direction 27A Administrative CourtAdministrative Court Court of AppealCourt of Appeal (Civil Division) Guide 2025 Chancery / CommercialChancery Guide 2022 (Business and Property Courts)King's BenchThe King's Bench Guide 2025 SEND TribunalPractice Direction No 1 of 2025 CriminalCriminal Practice Directions 2023, Part 12 General civilGeneral guidance on electronic court bundles

This is a format check against published court rules. It is not legal advice, it does not tell you whether your case is ready, and no outcome is guaranteed. The rules are subject to any direction a judge gives in your own case. Rules and guides are updated by the courts without notice; this page records the position as at 15 August 2026 and links to every source so you can check it yourself.