Fewer Claims, But More Expensive Tribunal Awards From 6th April 2015
Employment E-alert April 2015
The Issue Since July 2013 employees have had to pay a fee to issue claims in the Employment Tribunal. UNISON has failed in one application for judicial review of the decision to introduce fees and no fresh challenge is imminent. The introduction of fees has reduced the number of tribunal claims dramatically but those successfully brought may now result in more expensive awards. (Discrimination compensation and some specific unfair dismissal awards, e.g. an employee dismissed unfairly or selected for redundancy for reasons connected with health and safety or public interest disclosure (whistleblowing) are not subject to a statutory cap and unaffected.
The Consequences For unfair dismissals effective on or after 6 April 2015:
the cap on the unfair dismissal compensatory award rises to the lower of £78,335 or 52 weeks' pay;
the cap on the maximum amount of "a week's pay" increases to £475; and
the minimum basic award for some automatically unfair dismissals (e.g. those based on health and safety, working time or trade union membership) increases to £5,807.
For redundancies with effective dates of termination on or after 6 April 2015:
The cap on the maximum amount of "a week's pay" also increases to £475; and
The cap on the maximum statutory redundancy increases to £14,250.
Contact the authors:
Unfair dismissal awards are still subject to either an uplift or a reduction of up to 25% where either an employer or employee fails unreasonably to follow the ACAS Code on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures. The overall statutory cap still applies even if an uplift is made. Carolyn Brown
The Solution To avoid employment tribunal claims, businesses should:
ensure adherence to the guidelines in the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures as recently updated
adopt an equal opportunities policy to reduce the risk of liability for discrimination claims
communicate such policies to all staff, provide training in and monitor their fair operation
train managers to conduct disciplinary and grievance procedures fairly
obtain specialist legal advice before dismissing or taking action to enforce employment rights.
Partner, Head of Employment T: +44 (0)20 3755 5390 E: carolyn.brown@howardkennedy.com
Edward Belam Solicitor, Employment T: +44 (0)20 3755 5378 E: edward.belam@howardkennedy.com
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