Significant Increase to Discrimination Compensation Awards

Ross Milvenan
Head of Litigation
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The Presidents of the Employment Tribunals in England & Wales and in Scotland have recently published guidance that significantly increases the value of Employment Tribunal awards for ‘injury to feelings’.

As you may recall, awards for loss of earnings in successful discrimination claims are uncapped, but compensation is also commonly awarded by the Employment Tribunal for ‘injury to feelings’.  This type of award is made to compensate a claimant for hurt or upset suffered by them as a result of the discriminatory conduct by, or attributed to, their employer.

Such injury to feelings awards are made with reference to “bands” (often called the “Vento bands” because of the case that led to their construction) and the new bandings, for claims submitted on or after 6 April 2023, are as follows:

• Lower band (for less serious cases): £1,100 to £11,200;
• Middle band (for cases more serious than the lower band but not justifying an upper band award): £11,200 to £33,700;
• Upper band (awarded in the most serious cases): £33,700 to £56,200; and
• Exceptional cases: awards may exceed £56,200.

As with the recent increases that we have seen to limits on unfair dismissal compensation and statutory redundancy pay (see our recent JEL Alert), these significant increases to the Vento bands reflect the high level of inflation in the last year.

If you would like to discuss the increased discrimination compensation, or if we can provide any other support or assistance on any employment law matters, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our team on 0141 331 5150.

Topics: Compensation, Discrimination, Vento Bands