Other deductions and adjustments

Any money already paid to the employee by the employer as a result of the dismissal, for example, a settlement payment, will be deducted from compensation.

State benefits paid to the employee since losing their job will be deducted from the award through a process known as recoupment and paid by the employer direct to the Department for Work and Pensions. The recoupment procedure is only triggered if an award is made by the tribunal, not if a claim is settled using a compromise/settlement agreement or through Acas conciliation (see Chapter 14).

If a tribunal concludes that the employee could have been fairly dismissed if the employer had followed a fair procedure, the award can be reduced to reflect the percentage likelihood of a fair dismissal. This is known as a Polkey reduction (after the case of Polkey v Dayton Services Limited [1987] IRLR 503).

Compensation can be increased or cut by up to 25% for failure to follow the Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance procedures where it applies (section 207A, ERA 96).

The basic award is equivalent in amount to a statutory redundancy payment. Any statutory redundancy payment already received is offset against the basic award (Digital Equipment v Clements [1998] IRLR 134), but only if the tribunal decides that there was a genuine redundancy (Boorman v Allmakes [1995] IRLR 553).