Cost of age discrimination rises

Age discrimination awards averaged three times higher than any other awards in 2010-11 according to Employment Tribunal and Appeal statistics.

The average age discrimination award was £30,289, more than twice that of its nearest contender, disability discrimination, which came in at £14,137.  The average award made for race, sexual orientation, sex or disability discrimination was £11,551.

Although the total number of tribunal claims dropped by 8% last year, cases relating to the European Working Time Directive, age discrimination and part-time workers leapt by 20%, 32% and 33% respectively. A third of all claims were withdrawn before they even got to the tribunal stage.

Of the 244,000 cases that were concluded, the highest number (39%) related to unfair dismissal, breach of contract and redundancy. A further 16% were brought due to unauthorised deductions, while 11% addressed equal pay issues.

Capping compensation awards

Meanwhile, the proposed Tribunals (Maximum Compensation Awards) Bill 2010-2011 could clash with existing European law.  The aim of the Bill is to impose a cap of £50,000 on all compensatory awards, including unfair or wrongful dismissal. The current maximum, with a few exceptions, is £68,400, although employees can also be given a basic award of up to £12,000. 

Compensation for discrimination claims is currently uncapped, which may cause a problem with European law.  The European Equal Treatment Directive requires UK law to provide adequate remedies for discrimination following a 1993 ruling by the ECT that discrimination compensation should not be subject to the same cap as unfair dismissal compensation. 

It has been suggested that a formula such as two years’ pay rather than a cap for all claims irrespective of earnings, might be more legally compliant.