First, let’s look at potential types of unfair dismissal.
Your dismissal might be unfair if you lost your job because:
- You reported a health & safety issue
- You were involved in a trade union
- You were a trustee of an occupational pension scheme
Some kinds of dismissal count as ‘automatically unfair’, such as if you lost your job for being pregnant or for taking urgent time off to look after dependents. It’s also unfair if your employer didn’t follow the fair process outlined in the ACAS Code of Practice.
Those are just a few examples. You’ll find more details in this article.
“How is the amount calculated?”
The employment tribunal will decide how much you should receive (assuming you win your case), depending on the reason you were dismissed and other circumstances.
The amount will be made up of a basic award plus compensation. If your employer fails to comply with a reinstatement or re-engagement order, you might also be paid an additional award.
The basic award is made up of:
- 1.5 weeks’ pay for each year of employment after age 41
- 1 week’s pay for each year of employment between ages 22 and 40
- 0.5 week’s pay for each year of employment under age 22
Note that the tribunal can decide to reduce the amount of basic award depending on your conduct before you were dismissed.
The compensation element covers your losses, including:
- Lost wages
- Lost benefits such as company car, private medical/health insurance, bonus or commission
- Lost future wages
- Lost statutory rights (because you won’t qualify for unfair dismissal protection or redundancy for two years in your next job)
- Lost pension
The compensation amount will be reduced if you manage to find another job before the hearing.
If you received a redundancy payment, or payment in lieu of notice (PILON), the tribunal might deduct this amount from the total you receive.
“Yes, yes, but how much will I get?”
In 2017/18, the average unfair dismissal award in England and Wales was £15,007. This figure will be skewed though by the higher end awards. The median figure (the middle number of all awards) was £8,015.
The maximum basic award is £15,750 (in GB) or £16,410 (in Northern Ireland) or 30 weeks’ pay*.
If the tribunal orders your employer to reinstate or reemploy you, and they fail to do this, you’ll receive an extra amount up to £14,222 or 26 weeks’ pay* / £28,444 or 52 weeks’ pay*.
*Note that the upper limit on one week’s pay is £525 (UK) or £547 (NI).
In addition, the maximum amount of compensation for unfair dismissal is £86,444 (UK) or £86,614 (NI), or 52 weeks’ gross salary, whichever is lower.
There are also other limits, such as the amount you’ll receive for guaranteed pay (per day), if your dismissal was due to trade union activities, or if your employed breached their contract.
You might receive more than the cap if you were dismissed because of whistleblowing or discrimination, when your employer breached health & safety regulations, or because you tried to assert a statutory right.
“What else do I need to know?”
The amount the employment tribunal can award is capped by the Government, and the limits are reviewed each year, in line with economic inflation.
As you can tell, it’s not a simple answer. If you’d like advice about your specific situation, please give us a call. We’ll be happy to help.
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