The Government’s new Entrepise & Regulatory Reform Act 2013, along with a host of other Employment Tribunal reforms including fees for Claimants and capping compensatory awards, will bring in powers for judges to fine employers who are found to have breached any worker’s rights such as unfair dismissal, unlawful discrimination etc.
This comes into effect for any Tribunal claim presented on or after 25th October 2013.
This does not mean that any employer that loses its case will face such a financial penalty rather that it may be ordered to pay such a fine if it is guilty of “an aggravating factor” as part of the breach in question.
It is unclear how “an aggravating factor” might be determined but the fines will be paid to the Secretary of State and will range from ?100 to ?5,000. Of course, this will be on top of the compensation paid to the employee or worker.
Watch this space to see how these powers are applied in practice.
