It’s important to consider the potential award an employment tribunal may make in the event of an unfair dismissal claim by a former employee and this can be done in a schedule of loss. The average award for an unfair dismissal last year was £13,541. The following is a rough guide:
Basic award
This is calculated in the same way as a redundancy payment. Continuous service is capped at 20 years and a week’s pay is capped at £571.00.
- One and a half week’s pay for each year of employment after age 41
- One week’s pay for each year of employment between the ages of 22 and 40
- Half a week’s pay for each year of employment under the age of 22
Compensatory award
Compensation can be awarded to the employee for losses occasioned by dismissal and is usually for immediate loss of earnings and, sometimes future loss of earnings.
Notice & holiday pay
Notice pay will be awarded for the relevant number of weeks if no notice was given at the time and any outstanding holiday pay will also be awarded.
Failure to provide a written statement of particulars (employment contract)
S1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 requires employers to provide employees and workers with a written statement of certain terms of their employment on day one of the employment.
An employee or worker can only claim for a breach of these rights where they also have a successful substantive claim. They cannot bring the failure to provide particulars as a stand-alone matter.
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The tribunal will award between two and four weeks’ pay if another claim is successful and no statement of particulars was provided at the start of the employment.
Discrimination
A successful claim for discrimination due to a protected characteristic, such as race, sex, or age can give rise to compensation for injury to feelings. There are three bands of awards:
- Lower band: £900-£9,100 – The lower band is relevant for less serious cases, such as where the prohibited act was an isolated or one-off occurrence.
- Middle band: £9,100-£27,400 – The middle band is relevant for more serious cases, which do not merit an award in the highest band.
- Upper band: £27,400-£45,600 – The upper band is only used for the most serious cases, such as where there has been a lengthy campaign of discrimination on the ground of sex or race.
Failure to follow Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) procedure
A tribunal can, at their discretion, award an uplift of 25% for failure to follow the Acas procedure when dismissing an employee.
