The Presidents of the Employment Tribunals (England & Wales, and Scotland) have produced a Joint Practice Direction on the use of electronic signatures in employment tribunals.
The Practice Direction makes clear that an employment tribunal judgment or written reasons issued by electronic communication under Rules 61 and 62 of the Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure, can be signed with an electronic signature. The document will be deemed to be signed and authorised by the employment judge if it bears:
1) an electronic facsimile of the Judge’s handwritten signature or
2) the Employment Judge’s name typed at the end of the document, in the format ‘Employment Judge [surname]’ or ‘Employment Judge [first name initial(s) and surname].
Under Rule 63, there are special provisions for signing in the absence of an employment judge. In these circumstances, the document will be held to be signed and authorised by the individual if it bears:
1) an electronic facsimile of the handwritten signature(s)
2) the name of the individual(s) typed at the end of the document in the format ‘Tribunal Member [ surname or first name initial (s) and surname]’ or ‘Judge [surname], President’ or Judge [surname], Vice President’or Judge [surname], Regional Employment Judge.
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