Employment Tribunals can award in excess of £60,000 for unfair dismissal. For discrimination claims, compensation can be much, much higher – in fact, it is unlimited!!!

There are over 100,000 claims in Employment Tribunals throughout Britain each year:

1. 40,000 unfair dismissal cases
2. 12,000 sex discrimination cases
3. 5,000   disability discrimination cases
4. 3,000   race discrimination cases

Most cases reach a settlement, but many result in a contested hearing – where someone wins and someone loses! Remember, it’s a ‘court of law’ not a ‘court of justice’.  The law can be a bit of a lottery at times.  This is why so many cases settle. 

If you do decide to fight your case, it is essential to be prepared with all your witnesses and documents in order.  The more information you have in writing, the better.

If you decide that it is preferable to reach an agreement, the only way to be sure you are settling your case properly is to sign a ‘compromise agreement’ (or a settlement agreement through ACAS known as a COT3). If you don’t do this, then you are leaving yourself exposed to litigation – a handshake or a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ is not enough.

It does involve compromise (hence the name) – that is: better to settle for a guaranteed amount than risk losing it all. It avoids adverse press coverage, wasted time and a huge amount of stress.