How often does the unfair dismissal cap actually apply?
The statutory cap bites in only ~5–7% of unfair-dismissal compensatory awards (445 of 6,158) — for the typical claim it is irrelevant, constraining only the high-earner tail.
yerty/findings
Quick answers, backed by charts
Short reads that answer one question about the employment tribunal record, with charts drawn from published judgments and official statistics.
How often do discrimination claims succeed at an employment tribunal?
Success rates range from 56.8% for pregnancy and maternity down to 11.3% for religion or belief — pregnancy and maternity is the only characteristic where most decided claims succeed.
Employment tribunal awards: typical vs maximum payouts
The median unfair dismissal award was £6,746 in 2023/24, but maximums reach £995,128. The median, not the headline figure, is the realistic reference point.
How often are employment tribunal claimants represented?
Employers are represented in 68.8% of cases, claimants in just 33.4% — and the most common matchup is a represented employer facing an unrepresented claimant (43.3%).
Which UK sectors face the most employment tribunal claims?
The public sector (15.1%), healthcare (11.5%) and retail (9.7%) lead by employer sector — the top five sectors make up roughly half of all identifiable judgments.
What happens to a tribunal award after you win?
Among ~30,040 awarding cases the most common adjustments are the ACAS uplift (9.8%, +17%), Polkey reductions (6.3%, −49%) and contributory fault (5.9%, −40%) — the headline award is rarely the final figure.
How often are costs ordered at tribunal — and who pays?
Costs are rare — ordered in at least 2.4% of cases. When they land, claimants pay nearly twice as often as employers, and at seven times the median (£7,142 vs £1,000).
How often are employment tribunal decisions reconsidered?
A reconsideration is recorded in about 4.2% of published cases — roughly 1 in 24. Most tribunal decisions are final.
When your employer goes insolvent, who pays?
The state backstops statutory payments via the National Insurance Fund — making the Secretary of State one of the UK's most-named tribunal respondents (~1 in 70 cases), with a median award of £5,010.