According to a Government survey, half of the claimants who win their case at the Employment Tribunal are not paid their Tribunal award in full.  Of these unfortunate claimants, 16% were paid part of their award but 35% did not receive any money at all.

Only 46% of the claimants who were not paid then went on to take action to enforce their award.  Most of the claimants who attempted enforcement preferred to use the Fast Track enforcement Scheme rather than the county courts because it appeared to be the quickest or easiest option.  Enforcement resulted in payment of the award for half of those surveyed.

The survey found that the most common reason for non-payment was that the employer had become insolvent.  Many claimants were unaware that in cases of employer insolvency they can apply to the Redundancy Payments Service if their award related to an unfair dismissal claim.

In 29% of non-payment cases, the employer simply refused to pay the award.  This is a concern given that claimants now have to pay both an issue fee and a hearing fee for bringing a case in the employment tribunal, without any greater reassurance that they will receive payment if their claim is successful.

As a result, the Government is considering introducing a raft of measures to ensure employers pay awards, including:

• Allowing employment judges to demand deposits from businesses who might not pay up
• Fixed penalty notices for late payment
• Naming and shaming employers who fail to pay.

The survey by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, entitled Payment of Tribunal Awards 2013 study, can be accessed at the link below:

BIS Enforcement of Tribunal Awards