UK Employment Tribunal Awards
06 November 2024Following on from our previous article about key changes in UK employment, the UK Ministry of Justice has published the maximum, median and average employment tribunal awards for 2023/ 24.
Unsurprisingly, discrimination claims attract the highest awards, with age discrimination claims having the largest average award, £102,891 (NZD 223,468). The highest individual award in 2023/ 24 was for sex discrimination - £995,128 (NZD 2,159,427), although averages are well below that.
The table below shows the claim categories analysed in the data, converted to NZD:
|
|
Maximum |
Median |
Average |
|
Age Discrimination |
$568,429 |
$187,572 |
$223,468 |
|
Sex Discrimination |
$2,159,427 |
$35,069 |
$115,885 |
|
Disability Discrimination |
$2,092,889 |
$37,363 |
$96,528 |
|
Race Discrimination |
$936,936 |
$222,490 |
$64,084 |
|
Sexual Orientation Discrimination |
$102,634 |
$57,923 |
$58,742 |
|
Unfair dismissal |
$388,699 |
$14,638 |
$29,835 |
|
Religion and Belief Discrimination |
$43,400 |
$18,445 |
$23,327 |
By comparison the NZ Employment Relations Authority has published its awards for 2023, which are considerably lower.
Awards by Compensation Amount:
|
|
<$4,999 |
$5,000-$9,999 |
$10,000-$14,999 |
$15,000-$19,999 |
$20,000 -$24,999 |
>$25,000 |
|
2023 |
8 |
38 |
35 |
51 |
32 |
29 |
|
2022 |
26 |
53 |
47 |
40 |
33 |
10 |
|
2021 |
22 |
37 |
24 |
39 |
18 |
10 |
In 2023, the lowest award was $500 and the highest was $55,000.
The following data for the period 1 January – 30 June 2024 provides more detail on the current level of awards. Notably the Employment Court made only two awards:
|
Amount of award ($) |
ERA |
Court |
|
< $4,999 |
4 |
|
|
$5,000-$9,999 |
16 |
|
|
$10,000-$14,999 |
14 |
1 |
|
$15,000-$19,999 |
33 |
|
|
$20,000-$24,999 |
19 |
|
|
$25,000-$29,999 |
8 |
1 |
|
$30,000-$34,999 |
4 |
|
|
$35,000-$39,999 |
1 |
|
|
>$40,000 |
2 |
With regard to reinstatement, there were few determinations on an interim basis and there was only one successful case for permanent reinstatement in 2023.
Interim Reinstatement:
|
|
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
|
Successful |
5 |
5 |
8 |
|
Unsuccessful |
8 |
9 |
20 |
|
Total |
13 |
14 |
28 |
Permanent Reinstatement:
|
|
2023 |
2022 |
2021 |
|
Successful |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Unsuccessful |
15 |
8 |
11 |
|
Total |
16 |
10 |
14 |