Annual Inflation-Linked Changes in Tribunal Awards - 2009

The Employment Rights (Revision of Limits) Order 2009, which details the annual inflation-linked changes in limits on the compensation amounts which can be awarded by employment tribunals, was made on 10 December 2009 and applies where the appropriate date falls on or after 1 February 2010.

Under Section 34 of the Employment Relations Act 1999, if the Retail Prices Index (RPI) for September of a year is higher or lower than the RPI for the previous September, the Secretary of State is required to change the limits. As there was a decrease of 1.4 per cent in the RPI from September 2008 to September 2009, this is reflected in the revised compensation limits.

The main changes are:

the maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal decreases from £66,200 to £65,300;

the limit on the amount of guarantee payment payable to an employee in respect of any day decreases from £21.50 to £21.20; and

the minimum amount of compensation where an individual is found to have been unlawfully excluded or expelled from a trade union decreases from £7,300 to £7,200.

In his April 2009 Budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an increase from £350 to £380 in the maximum amount for a week’s pay for use when calculating statutory redundancy pay. This change was implemented on 1 October 2009. The maximum amount for a week’s pay for calculating this and various other tribunal awards remains at £380.

There is no statutory cap on the amount a tribunal can award in discrimination cases.