THE FACTS
Employment tribunals have the power to order awards for injury to feelings in successful discrimination and whistleblowing detriment claims. Clear guidelines for calculating awards for injury to feelings set out three ‘bands’ of potential awards: the lower band for less serious cases; the middle band for awards which do not merit an award in the highest band; and the top band, for the most serious cases. These are known as the Vento bands. The Vento bands are updated annually to take inflation into account.
For claims issued after 6 April 2023, the bands will be as follows:
- The lower band: £1,100 to £11,200
- The middle band: £11,200 to £33,700
- The top band: £33,700 to £56,200
Awards of over £56,200 may be made in “the most exceptional of cases”.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR EMPLOYERS?
This uplift will mean increased financial risk for employers facing discrimination and whistleblowing detriment claims. Again, the significant increase in these awards has been driven by inflation.
