Kate Brooks

Partner, Solicitor & Head of Employment/HR Services

DATE PUBLISHED: 10 Mar 2016 LAST UPDATED: 01 Nov 2022

How much compensation could I get for unfair dismissal?

If you are an employee who believes they have been unfairly dismissed by your employer then you may be entitled to compensation in the employment tribunal.

Unfair dismissal – the compensation is broken down as follows:

Basic award

This is calculated in the same way as a statutory redundancy payment. You can use the government calculator or our Ellis Jones Redundancy Calculator to calculate this.

The calculation is based on your age at the date of dismissal, gross weekly pay up to a maximum of £489 and complete years’ of service. The maximum that can be awarded is 30 weeks’ gross pay subject to the cap.

For example if you have are 25 at the date of dismissal, have been employed
for 2.5 weeks and your weekly pay before tax is £500 the basic award would be:
2 x £489 = £978.

If you have already been paid a redundancy payment then this may cancel out any basic award due.

Compensatory award

Amount for the fact that you will have lost your employment rights and will need to build up 2 years’ service in new employment. This amount is likely to be around £450 to £900 regardless of your income.

Compensation for loss of earnings until such time as you find a job with the same salary or stop looking for another job. The maximum you can claim
is £80,541 or up to one year’s salary whichever is less. It is only possible to claim net pay i.e. the pay you took home after deductions for tax and national insurance. It will also be possible to claim for loss of bonuses and other benefits associated with employment.

Acas Uplift

If the tribunal finds that your employer has not followed the Acas code of practice they increase the compensation awarded by up to 25%. If they find you have not followed the code of practice this compensation could be reduced by up to 25%.

NB – compensation could be reduced if you do not keep records of your job search, or if the tribunal think you have contributed to your dismissal or the dismissal would have been fair aside from a procedural error.

For further information about unfair dismissal please contact the employment team on 01202 525333 or email head of department Kate Brooks via email.

How can we help?

When you submit this form an email will be sent to the relevant department who will contact you within 48 hours. If you require urgent advice please call 01202 525333.

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