Refreshed and re-invigorated after the summer break, employers now need to urgently assess the increased risk to their operations from the new compensation award limits.
Over the summer, Jersey's Minister for Social Security confirmed that compensation limits for successful claims in the tribunal will be increasing imminently. Legislation is currently being drafted and the new regulations are expected to take effect towards the end of this year.
What does this mean for employers?
Any claim on which the Tribunal adjudicates after the new compensation limits come into force will be subject to significantly higher levels of compensation [see table below]. The new limits will apply to all claims which are in the system and which the Tribunal adjudicates upon after the amended regulations come into force.
By way of example, if a claim were filed at the Tribunal today but the final hearing were to take place in February 2025 (after the changes are expected to come into force), the Tribunal would apply the new (and significantly higher) compensation limits.
What should employers do to reduce the risk?
It’s simple – training, training, training and… when the worst happens … mediation.
Employers should urgently educate their workforces and invest in a meaningful training programme to ensure that all staff, from the most senior director to the most junior newcomer, understand your expectations and their obligations.
And, when disputes do occur, employers should encourage their managers and other staff to explore mediation as a private, non-confrontational and cost-effective means to diffusing the dispute.
Summary of changes to Jersey’s compensation award limits
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Current award levels |
New award levels |
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Awards for employment-related discrimination |
Capped at £10,000 including a maximum of £5,000 for hurt and distress |
Capped at either £50,000 or 52 weeks’ pay, whichever is the greater. Includes up to maximum of £30,000 for hurt and distress |
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Unfair dismissal awards |
Awards based on continuous employment and calculated on a sliding scale up to a maximum of 26 weeks’ pay for those employees with five or more years’ continuous employment |
Extending the existing sliding scale to provide longer-serving employees with 10 or 15 years’ service with 31 weeks’ pay or 36 weeks’ pay respectively. Additionally, the Tribunal will have a discretionary power to apply an uplift of up to 25% of the award where an employer’s conduct has been particularly grievous. |
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Breach of Contract Claims |
Jurisdictional limit of £10,000 meaning that the Tribunal may only consider contractual claims of less than £10,000. |
Increasing the jurisdictional limit in line with the Petty Debts Court so the Tribunal may consider contractual claims of up to £30,000 |
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Breach of statutory rights (eg right to receive payslips and written contractual terms, suffering a detriment, flexible working, parental leave, adoption leave |
Cap of four weeks’ pay for most serious breaches |
Increasing the cap to eight weeks’ pay |
07700 707433 
hilary@workplaceconsensus.co.uk 
07700 707433 
hilary@workplaceconsensus.co.uk 