So you’ve been discriminated against at work. That’s against the law. But there are three important questions to answer before you decide what to do.
- How much compensation can you claim?
- Is it going to be worth taking your employer to the employment tribunal?
- If your employer makes you an offer to settle ‘out of court’, what amount of compensation would be reasonable to accept?
If you win…
If you win your discrimination claim, there are five main aspects to the compensation you receive
1. Loss of earnings
Your employer will pay for earnings you’ve lost due to the discrimination. The amount you receive will depend on how much you’ve lost.
2. Injury to feelings
Your employer will also have to compensate you for any mental or physical effects you have suffered as a result of the discrimination. This includes upset, hurt, distress, stress or depression.
How does the tribunal measure your feelings?
At the tribunal, you will have to give evidence to explain:
- What discrimination happened
- How it affected you
- How you felt about it
Other people might also have to give evidence to support your claim, such as family, friends, medical professionals and support workers.
How does a tribunal decide what value to place on your feelings?
Note that compensation isn’t a punishment for your employer. When assessing how much to award you, the tribunal follows the Vento guidelines, which are split into these three bands:
- Top: If you’ve suffered a long campaign of discrimination or harassment, you could be awarded as much as £18,000-£30,000.
- Middle: If you suffered a serious one-off act of harassment, or a lengthy but less serious act of discrimination, or the discrimination you suffered was relatively minor but led to you losing your job, you could be awarded £6,000 – £18,000.
- Lower: If you suffered a one-off act of relatively minor harassment or discrimination, you could be awarded £500 – £6,000.
You might receive more if you are particularly vulnerable, for example, you’re pregnant, disabled, or already had a stress-related illness when you experienced the discrimination.
To give you an idea, the typical award over the past few years has been about £5,000.
3. Personal injury
If you suffer injury to your health due to the discrimination, such as developing a psychiatric illness, you might receive additional compensation above the top Vento band.
In this case, you will have to provide medical evidence to support your claim
4. Aggravated damages
Your employer may have to pay extra if the discrimination was deliberate, or if they have been particularly malicious, insulting, high-handed or oppressive towards you – whether this was while the discrimination was happening or during the tribunal claim. (This applies in England and Wales only.)
You will need to show that your employer:
- Dealt badly with an earlier act of discrimination
- Failed to address a grievance about discrimination
- Tried to cover up the discrimination
- Failed to admit that discrimination happened
- Treated you badly because you complained about the discrimination (or attempted to)
5. Interest
And finally, your employer will have to pay you interest on all the above payments.
Need help?
For a FREE assessment of your claim, call 0808 168 7288 or fill in the contact form on the top right of this page.
We have already helped thousands of people to win millions of pounds in compensation.
You have a choice of ways to pay, including ‘no win, no fee’.
We will also discuss the best methods of funding your case and seek to reach a solution that best suits your needs. This can involve a “no-win, no-fee” agreement if appropriate.