Businesses that lose a discrimination claim may find themselves facing greater compensation payments due to a forthcoming increase in the bands of awards for injury to feelings.
So, what three things do all businesses need to know?
- How discrimination compensation works
- What the new Vento bands are and when they will apply
- What you can do to help protect your business from discrimination and harassment claims
How does discrimination compensation work?
In outline, if an employee is found to have been discriminated against an employment tribunal can award compensation for injury to feelings. This is compensation for the hurt and upset the employee has suffered.
Since it is difficult to quantify hurt and upset, there is guidance in place for how much compensation may be awarded in respect of injury to feelings. This works by categorising the discrimination into bands with an upper and lower limit, the tribunal identifies the band it considers the discrimination falls into and makes an award within the limits for that band. The limits on these bands are changing.
What are the new Vento bands?
The new increased limits will be:
• Lower band £1,200 to £12,100 (previously £1,200 to £11,700)
• Middle band £12,100 to £36,400 (previously £11,700 to £35,200)
• Upper band £36,400 to £60,700 (previously £35,200 to £58,700)
• Exceptional cases +£60,700 (previously +£58,700)
The new limits on the bands will apply for claims presented on or after 6th April 2025.
What can I do to protect my business from successful discrimination and harassment claims?
The starting point is to think about how to prevent such events from occurring, if you haven’t already done so consider taking steps such as:
- Clearly communicating that discrimination and harassment is not tolerated and the potential consequences for it (also bear in mind the specific duty to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment)
- Putting in place appropriate equal opportunities and anti-harassment policies
- Ensuring your employees and managers receive discrimination and harassment training and that it is kept up to date. Interested in training for your business? Get in touch for further information and to discuss your HR training needs
If your business receives a complaint about discrimination or harassment, it’s vital that it is handled promptly and appropriately, so please get in touch for specific advice on the situation you are facing.