As part of a report released on the 8 December 2022 the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) published
statistics on the employment tribunals for the financial year 2021 -2022. The headline
figures are set out below:
• For the period between July 2021 and March 2022, 56,362 claims were accepted by
employment tribunals. For the same period in the previous year there were 96,369
claims.
• The highest compensation award made in 2021-22 was for £228,117 in a case for
race discrimination.
• The overall average (mean) award for the reported discrimination cases was
£24,903.
• The average (mean) award for unfair dismissal was £13,541.
• 184 costs awards were made by the employment tribunals. 134 of those were made
in favour of the respondent and 50 in favour of the claimant.
• The largest costs award was £600,673 and the average (mean) costs award was
£8,818.
The statistics are a reminder of the risks and realities for the parties to employment tribunal
claims.
At the time of writing, the cap for a compensation award in an ordinary unfair dismissal case
is the lesser of 52 weeks’ gross pay and £93,878. There is no cap on compensation in
discrimination cases. There is clearly the potential for significant financial risk for employers
facing employment tribunal proceedings.
However, the reality is not always that straight forward. While there is potential for high
level awards in the employment tribunal, there is a requirement for the claimant to show
loss and to take steps to mitigate any loss. The employment tribunal will also have a wide
discretion to decide over what period the loss should be calculated. In discrimination cases
there may also be compensation claims under other heads of loss such as injury to feelings,
but any award could be limited by the employment tribunal’s assessment of the seriousness
of the injury.
The MOJ statistics demonstrate that although there is a risk to employers of high
compensation awards, the reality is that the average awards come in at much lower levels.
With regard to the MOJ statistics on costs awards, it is worth noting that in general,
employment tribunals rarely make costs awards and if they do, they can take into account
the party’s ability to pay.
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