The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2015, which details the annual inflation-linked changes in limits on the compensation amounts which can be awarded by employment tribunals, applies where the appropriate date falls on or after 6 April 2015.
The main changes are:
- The maximum amount of a week's pay for the purpose of calculating a redundancy payment, or for various awards including the basic or additional award of compensation for unfair dismissal, increases from £464 to £475;
- The minimum amount of compensation where an individual is found to have been unlawfully excluded or expelled from a trade union increases from £8,669 to £8,868; and
- The statutory maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal increases from £76,574 to £78,335.
Since July 2013, a 12 months' pay cap has applied to the compensatory award payable on unfair dismissal if this amount is less than the statutory maximum or overall cap. Where the employee's annual salary exceeds the limit, the statutory maximum applies.
There is no statutory cap on the amount a tribunal can award in discrimination cases.