Annual Increase in Tribunal Awards

29 January 2004

From 1 February 2004, tribunal awards will increase. The main compensatory award for unfair dismissal will go up from £53,500 to £55,000, and awards based on a week's pay will be capped at £270 per week (previously £260 a week). These new levels will only apply where the event leading to a successful claim for compensation takes place on or after 1 February 2004. 
The new week's pay will also apply for the purpose of statutory redundancy pay calculations where the redundancy falls after 1 February 2004 or where it occurs before 1 February 2004 but would have fallen after that date had the employee been given statutory minimum notice.
 
For further detail, including a table of all changes, see the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2003 at http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2003/20033038.htm. For any advice, contact Margaret Davis or Richard Kenyon at Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP.