The cost of paying compensation to staff who successfully took their employers to court on the grounds of discrimination reached a record high in 2011 of just under £9m, according to a report by the Equal Opportunities Review.
However, this was mainly due to two huge cases brought against the NHS, which totalled over £5m. Taking these out of the equation, the total is just under £3.5m, which is still higher than the sum in 2010.
And the average amount awarded per case was £15,130, also higher than the 2010 figure, when the average award was £13,624. But the median figure, which the report says is a better indicator of what claimants can expect, fell from £8,000 in 2010 to £7,518 last year.
Stephen Simpson, senior employment law editor at XpertHR, said: “… the truth is that it is relatively rare for tribunals to award compensation of tens of thousands of pounds. The median award of £7,518 gives a much more realistic picture of discrimination awards, with even the most serious harassment cases unlikely to pass £50,000.
“The average award has been pushed way up by two exceptionally high awards for NHS workers and can be explained by very high loss of earnings and loss of pensions that these senior employees suffered.”
But some experts say that changes to employment legislation brought in in April may lead to an increase in the number of discrimination claims, as employees now have to wait for two years before they can claim unfair dismissal.
They think that this could mean that employees will find ways of getting around the new legislation and use other grounds on which to sue, such as race, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, disability, age or whistle-blowing.