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The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order (Northern Ireland) 2022
Published on: 24/03/2022
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Legal Island
Legal Island

This Order increases, from 6th April 2022, the limits applying to certain awards of industrial tribunals, the Fair Employment Tribunal or Labour Relations Agency statutory arbitration, and other amounts payable under employment legislation, as specified in the Schedule to the Order.

Under Article 33(2) of the Employment Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (“the 1999 Order”), if the retail prices index (RPI) for September of a year is higher (or lower) than the index for the previous September, the Department is required to change, by Order, the sums specified in the provisions mentioned in Article 33(1) by the percentage of the increase or decrease (rounded up or down as specified in Article 33(3) of the 1999 Order). The increases made by this Order reflect the increase in the RPI of 4.9% from September 2020 to September 2021.

The increases apply where the event giving rise to the entitlement to compensation or other payments occurs on or after 6th April 2022. Article 2 of the Order revokes the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order (Northern Ireland) 2021 (S.R. 2021 No. 73) (“the 2021 Order”). Article 4 of the Order preserves the sums previously in operation under the 2021 Order in relation to cases where the relevant event was before 6th April 2022.

The increases are set out in the table below.

Relevant Statutory Provision

Subject of Provision

2020

2021

2022

Article 40(6) of the 1995 Order

Minimum amount of compensation awarded by the industrial tribunal where individual expelled from union in contravention of Article 38 of the 1995 Order and where, when the application is made, the applicant has not been re-admitted to the union.

£10,222

£10,334

£10,840

Article 23(1) of the 1996 Order

Maximum amount of “a week’s pay” for the purpose of calculating a redundancy payment or for various awards including the basic or additional award of compensation for unfair dismissal.

£560

£566

£594

Article 153 (1) of the 1996 Order

Limit on maximum amount of basic award of compensation in ‘normal’ unfair dismissals and statutory redundancy payments are therefore increased from….

£16,800

£16,980

£17,820

Article 63(1) of the 1996 Order

Limit on amount of guarantee payment payable to an employee in respect of any day.

£30.00

£30.00

£31.00

Article 77E(3) of the 1996 Order

Amount of award for unlawful inducement relating to union membership or activities, or for unlawful inducement relating to collective bargaining.

£4,507

£4,557

£4,780

Article 154(1) of the 1996 Order

Minimum amount of basic award of compensation where dismissal is unfair by virtue of Article 132(1)(a) and (b), 132A(1)(d)(1), 133(1), 134 or 136(1) of the 1996 Order.

£6,815

£6,890

£7,228

Article 158(1) of the 1996 Order

Limit on amount of compensatory award for unfair dismissal.

£88,693

£89,669

£94,063

Article 231(1) of the 1996 Order

Limit on amount in respect of any one week payable to an employee in respect of debt to which Part XIV of the 1996 Order applies and which is referable to a period of time.

£560

£566

£594

Full order is available here:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2022/135/note/made

Vento Bands Increased 

A Fifth Addendum to the Presidential Guidance on employment tribunal awards for injury to feelings has been issued by the Presidents of the Employment Tribunals in England and Wales and in Scotland. Those 'Vento Bands' are also used by NI tribunals.

In respect of claims presented on or after 6 April 2022, the Vento bands shall be as follows:

  •  a lower band of £990 to £9,900 (less serious cases);
  • a middle band of £9,900 to £29,600 (cases that do not merit an award in the upper band); and
  • an upper band of £29,600 to £49,300 (the most serious cases), with the most exceptional cases capable of exceeding £49,300.

More:https://files.constantcontact.com/a61bf256301/34700e63-3c36-41b5-87af-d203b8a6d25b.pdf

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Disclaimer The information in this article is provided as part of Legal Island's Employment Law Hub. We regret we are not able to respond to requests for specific legal or HR queries and recommend that professional advice is obtained before relying on information supplied anywhere within this article. This article is correct at 24/03/2022