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Compensation in the employment tribunal
[ch 2: pages 34-36]Awards of compensation in the employment tribunal are not generally high. The average (median) award for unfair dismissal in 2014 was just £5,016. For disability discrimination it was £9,658 and for sex and pregnancy discrimination it was £10,600 (Equal Opportunities Review Annual Survey, 2014). Given the high levels of anxiety, legal costs and long-term career implications of bringing a bullying claim to the tribunal, these sums are not impressive.
The largest part of any compensation award will be for future lost earnings, including pension.
Importantly, in a claim of unfair dismissal, no matter how badly the employer has behaved, there is no compensation in the employment tribunal for causing physical or psychiatric harm. Here is the leading case that confirms this:
Christopher Dunnachie brought a claim for unfair dismissal with the support of his union UNISON when he resigned following a lengthy bullying campaign by his line manager. An employment tribunal awarded him £10,000 compensation for the psychiatric injury he had suffered as a result, but the council appealed. His case reached the Supreme Court where it was confirmed that compensation in claims for unfair dismissal does not include injury to feelings or psychiatric injury, no matter how badly the employer behaves.
Dunnachie v Kingston-upon-Hull City Council [2004] IRLR 727
By contrast, where a worker succeeds with a claim for harassment or victimisation under the EA 10, compensation can include injury to feelings and personal (psychiatric) injury, as well as aggravated damages.
Awards of aggravated damages and injury to feelings are also possible in PIDA (whistleblowing) claims for detriment suffered as a result of making the disclosure (see page 32).
Awards of compensation for unfair dismissal are capped at 52 weeks’ gross pay, or £78,335, whichever is the lower (April 2015).