Those that are successful in a discrimination claim can be awarded compensation for injury caused to feelings as a result of the discrimination they have suffered. In order to decide how much to award for injury to feelings, tribunals use guidelines known as Vento guidelines to decide how much to award in each case.
Following a recent Court of Appeal decision (De Souza v Vinci Construction (UK) Ltd) the Presidents of the Tribunals in England and Scotland have significantly increased the amounts awarded should a discrimination case be successful. In addition, the new bands include the Simmons v Castle 10% uplift (applied subject to whether the employment tribunal is sitting in Scotland), meaning compensation awarded for injury to feelings in employment tribunals is more in line with that awarded in the civil court.
The new Vento bands are as follows:
Lower: £800 – £8,400
For less serious cases, such as a one-off case of discrimination
Middle: £8,400 – £25,200
For cases that are serious, but don’t fit into the higher band
Higher: £25,200 – £42,000
The most serious cases of discrimination may be awarded upwards of £42,000.
It is important that as an employer you are aware that this award could be claimed in an employment tribunal. Additionally it is important to understand that there are different levels of award as this can assist in preparing a counter schedule of loss in any proceedings.
