In addition to financial compensation, an "injury to feelings" award is available in discrimination and certain whistleblowing claims.
The level of any injury to feelings award is assessed by reference to guidelines that are commonly referred to as the "Vento bands" (taking their name from a Court of Appeal case which initially considered this approach).
The Presidents of the Employment Tribunals in England and Wales and Scotland have issued an update to the Vento guidelines, setting out the following new bands as adjusted for inflation:
- Lower band: £900 to £8,800 (less serious cases).
- Middle band: £8,800 to £26,300 (cases that do no merit an award in the upper band).
- Upper band: £26,300 to £44,000 (the most serious cases, with exceptional cases capable of exceeding £44,000).
These updated figures apply to cases presented on or after 6 April 2019, and follow hot on the heels of the annual increase to statutory minimum wage rates and other statutory changes – you can find our previous blog post covering these changes here.
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