As many as one in 10 successful claimants are unable to get the amounts awarded to them by employment tribunals from their employer, according to a Citizens Advice Bureau report.
The report, Justice Denied (on the Citizens Advice Bureau website), says that around 1,500 of the estimated 15,000 successful claimants each year find that their employer simply fails to pay up. Although there are sometimes genuine business reasons for this (for example, insolvency), in many cases the non-payment of the award is deliberate, as "rogue employers know that they can ignore a tribunal judgment and any award with near impunity".
The Citizens Advice Bureau lays the blame squarely on the lack of powers for employment tribunals to enforce their decisions, with claimants forced to take "bewilderingly complex and costly" legal action in the civil courts.
It recommends the introduction of state-led enforcement of unpaid awards, with a tentative estimate that the mere existence of such a scheme would act as a deterrent to reduce the number of awards that go unpaid by one-third, while enforcement action might be successful in another third of the cases.
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Comments (8)
Hi , just wondering if you can tell me if the present process of receiving an award after a tribunal won , being through a sheriff officer i believe, does this mean it will be paid to me? or can the employer just ignore it and not pay resulting in having to claim through the county courts etc as this was mentioned on a few websites. I know it maybe different in scotland so any suggestions? I have won my case and sent for an extract of awards so hoping i will be paid the money owed soon.
Posted by david boslem | January 29, 2009 8:14 PM
Posted on January 29, 2009 20:14
The situation is similar - if you do not get your award, you need to go through the civil courts to enforce the judgment. In Scotland, this means going to the Sheriff Court.
Posted by Stephen Simpson | February 10, 2009 8:58 PM
Posted on February 10, 2009 20:58
Hi, is it now easier to get the money if they dont pay, are there not high court enforcement officers? If so do you have to wait 42 days before enforcement?
Posted by alex | July 12, 2009 8:53 AM
Posted on July 12, 2009 08:53
Thank you for your query. The time you have to wait depends on whether or not the judgment contains written reasons - the Government has published some guidance and it is worth referring in particular to page 7 of this document (http://www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk/Documents/Publications/TheJudgment.pdf).
Posted by Stephen Simpson | July 20, 2009 11:06 AM
Posted on July 20, 2009 11:06
I have an employee taking me to an industrial tribunal. I am trying to keep my business afloat at the moment and I foolishly missed the deadline for submission of the ET3 form by 2 days (my wife was ill with Flu and I had to care for our 2 children so couldn't get the form in on time). I have applied for my defence to be considered based on these facts. If the ex employee wins his case and is awarded the claim which will result in my business folding and 5 people being put out of work can the claim be enforced or is there assistance to pay the claim via my National Insurance contributions?
Posted by Ian Budgen | November 14, 2009 1:50 AM
Posted on November 14, 2009 01:50
Thank you for your question, Ian. I can't give you legal advice on your situation, but it might be worth contacting Acas to discuss your situation with them - www.acas.org.uk. I will say that I do not know of any Government-related scheme that would pay for the cost of losing a tribunal claim. You can of course get insurance to guard against the cost of being taken to an employment tribunal. I do not know how difficult/impossible it might be to get this "after the fact", ie after the individual has brought the claim.
Posted by Stephen Simpson | November 16, 2009 9:29 AM
Posted on November 16, 2009 09:29
My last employer won't pay money that I was awarded when I won at tribunal.
Posted by anne birch | December 1, 2009 4:23 PM
Posted on December 1, 2009 16:23
hi there i have won my employment tribunal back in sep 2009 and was awarded 14.500 to be paid to me by the 19th oct 2009. I'm still waiting for my money and get the impression that they are just ignoring me. So in November i paid for bailiffs to go in and recover my money on the 23rd of dec 2009. i then received a letter that they had been granted a stay against my bailiffs pending an appeal on the case. i haven't been given a appeal date as yet on a technicality involving polkey case. the dead line for this is the 11th feb 2010. I'm going to challenge the stay representing myself as the costs are ridiculous now. is there any advice anyone can give me how i can challenge this in county court. i think it is unreasonable for them to continue putting off paying my award when a date was set and the company is still trading and making big profits over the last credit crunch.
Posted by Craig McArdle | February 3, 2010 1:25 PM
Posted on February 3, 2010 13:25