How Much Compensation Could You Receive?

Taking your employer to Tribunal can be time-consuming and stressful. Before embarking on such an endeavor it is wise to consider all of your options and what you hope to get out of this course of action. that includes compensation.

Is it Worth it?

One of the most important questions that you will ask yourself before bringing an employment claim to the Tribunal is ‘will this be worth it?’

Worth is entirely subjective and can mean different things to different people, some people bring claims because they want to punish an employer who has treated them badly, others will bring a claim because they have not received their due from their employer, and some people will bring a claim to prevent bad treatment happening to others. Everyone is different and accomplishing these goals can make a claim ‘worth it’ too many people. Employment claims are usually driven by emotion and it is rare for anyone to bring a claim for the sole reason of receiving compensation.

Rarely, will anyone say I want a claim to be financially ‘worth it’

In my time as a legal professional, I have found that clients and potential clients alike never want to openly admit that they are interested in the amount of compensation they may or may not receive. However, the compensation should be considered when thinking about bringing a claim. Bringing a claim is a stressful process and you really must consider everything you’re hoping to get out of it before charging ahead, that includes the money.

This article will focus on Unfair and Constructive Dismissal claims and will lay out how compensation is calculated so that you can estimate the financial value of your claim and help decide if bringing a claim is right for you.

Basic Award

A basic award – this will differ depending on what type of claim you bring e.g. unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal, discrimination, etc.

The Basic Award is reached by taking the employee’s age and years of service to get a multiplier and then multiplying the weekly wage to arrive at a figure.

However, the weekly pay figure is limited to a maximum of £475 per week and the maximum years that will be considered is 20.

After two years of service, the weekly pay is multiplied by 0.5

For each year of service over the age of 22, the weekly pay is multiplied by 1

For each year of service over the age of 41, the weekly pay is multiplied by 1.5

Example

For a 31-year-old who has been employed for seven years on a weekly wage of £250.00 the calculation would look like:

£250.00 x 7 = £1,750.00

Other Award

You can also claim for the following as part of your compensation:

Loss of Wagesfrom the date of dismissal until the Tribunal hearing, net of tax and national insurance contributions.
Future Loss of Wages, usually limited to three months after your last working day. But is the length you can claim future loss of earnings is at the tribunal’s discretion.
Loss of Perks, such as health care.
Loss of Employment Protection.In your new job, you will have to work for two years before you regain any employment rights. You can claim for this loss of protection.
Loss of Pension

Deductions

The tribunal can choose to reduce your award if the following applies to your situation:

If you have refused an offer to be reinstated and it is unreasonable to reject that offer.
If you are partly to blame for their own dismissal.
Your conduct before you were dismissed.
If you have already received redundancy payments if your dismissal was due to redundancy.
You share some blame for your termination, there can be a reduction in compensation
You have not made an effort to find a new job or if you have refused suitable job offers.
Where your dismissal was actually fair, but the way it was carried out was unfair.
You have not complied with the ACAS code.

The tribunal can also reduce your compensation if you have received the following:

Redundancy payments.
Payments due to the dismissal.

Will You Get What You Calculate?

Once you have worked out the figure you believe you should be entitled to at Tribunal it can be easy to get carried away and assume that regardless of what happens, as long as you win your claim then you will receive the amount you have requested.

This is not always the case.

The Tribunal may well agree that your employer has behaved in such a way so as to entitle you to some compensation but they may disagree with you on the amount. Even if you provide them with a well-illustrated Schedule of your losses, clearly laying out how you reached your figures you may not receive them.

While it is unlikely that the Tribunal will disagree with you with regard to the Basic Aware, as long as you have calculated it correctly and can prove your age and the length of your employment, they may disagree with you on the Other Award. There is no guarantee that the Tribunal will agree with you that your losses are reasonable and they may discredit them entirely or in part.

The best way to avoid this is to:-

Keep your receipts (such as for travel expenses attending job interviews)
Show your reasoning behind each claim – say why you think you are entitled to this money back
Mitigate your losses – Show the Tribunal that you have tried hard not to incur heavy losses.

If you can do the above well the Tribunal is more likely to look favorably upon your losses. However, always keep in mind that the Tribunal has discretion in this instance.

Conclusion

In conclusion, working out your compensation estimate should be relatively straightforward with the above calculator for your basic award, and a clear idea of what expenses and losses you have been put to in order to help calculate your other award.

Beware of deductions, the Tribunal can make deductions which are usually dependant on your behavior both while you were employed and afterwards during the course of the claim. Always behave in a reasonable manner to avoid unnessecary deductions.