Employment Rights Compensation Levels Rise

As the recession bites and more and more people face loosing their jobs or being 'let go' unnecessarily, the government has moved to adjust levels of compensation.

The Department for Employment and Learning today announced that payments and awards made to workers in employment rights cases are to rise in line with inflation.

An Order made by the department brings these new limits into operation at once and affects a number of scenarios.

The increased limits relate to a range of employment rights including statutory redundancy payments; the basic and compensatory awards for unfair dismissal; the limit on guarantee payments made when employees are not provided with work; and the minimum basic award for unfair dismissal in health and safety and certain other cases.

For example, the limit on the award for unfair dismissal is raised from £63,000 to £66,200 while the maximum amount of 'a week's pay' for the purpose of calculating redundancy payment rises from £330 to £350.

Legislation adjusting limits relating to a range of employment rights is made annually to reflect changes in the rate of inflation as measured by the Retail Prices Index (RPI).