Enforcing tribunal awards and costs orders 





Tribunals cannot enforce awards or costs orders, so if an employer refuses to pay, the claimant must bring separate county court enforcement proceedings. This has led to shockingly low levels of recovery for successful claimants. Ministry of Justice research suggests that nearly 40% of tribunal awards are not paid at all, while 8% are paid only in part. 





A system of Penalty Enforcement was introduced in April 2016 to address this. A claimant whose tribunal award or Acas settlement has not been paid must complete a Penalty Enforcement Form available online from the GOV.UK website and send it to the government’s ET Penalties Team. An enforcement officer will give the employer 28 days to pay and collect the award for the claimant. There is a penalty (50% of the award outstanding, minimum £500 and maximum £5,000). It halves if the award is paid in 14 days. The penalty goes to HM Treasury, not the claimant.


In December 2018, the government announced a “naming and shaming” scheme, publishing the names of employers who do not pay tribunal awards (but not Acas settlements) on time. The new system will run parallel to the penalty enforcement scheme. Claimants must register for the penalty and the naming scheme for their employer to be eligible. The scheme is available for all tribunal awards that are registered from 18 December 2018.