Financial penalties for ‘aggravated breach’

Tribunals can impose an extra penalty on employers who breach employment rights where that breach has “one or more aggravating features”, or involves “unreasonable behaviour” (section 12A, Employment Tribunals Act 1996). Penalty payments cannot be below £100 or more than £5,000 and will reduce by 50% if paid within 21 days. The penalty is not paid to the claimant but to HM Treasury. Very few penalties have been ordered. In December 2018, the government announced a plan to change the law to increase the maximum penalty to £20,000 and to require tribunals to consider the use of sanctions where employers have lost a previous case on broadly similar facts.