EAT announcement 'may increase dispute payouts'
Commercial insurance
16th October 2009
A decision by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) to raise the amounts that victims of workplace discrimination receive may lead to larger settlements.
The organisation ruled that the bands of damages awarded against employers will be raised for injury to feelings.
Under the changes, the upper band will expand from £15,000 to £30,000, from a previous upper limit of £25,000 and similar increases have been applied to the middle band, to a maximum of £18,000 from £15,000 and the lower band (from £5,000 to £6,000).
The tiered system is an attempt to encourage judges at tribunals to deliver a degree of consistency in their judgments with regards to injury to feelings in discrimination disputes.
It was introduced by the Court of Appeal following a case in 2002, something which may be of interest to liability insurance customers.
Recent EAT data revealed that the number of claims accepted by employment tribunals fell during 2008-09 by 20 per cent compared with the previous year.
For more information on how Giles can help you with your business insurance, Click here.
