For discrimination and detriment cases, compensation can also cover non-financial losses, which, in most cases, will include an injury to feelings award. This means that a claimant can recover for injury to feelings even when they have suffered no financial loss.
The Equality Act 2010 nor any other legislation has provided guidance as to how a tribunal should evaluate injured feelings financially; so it has been the discretion of the tribunals and courts to provide guidance.
How are injury to feelings awards made?
An injury to feelings award is not a punitive award; it is intended to be compensatory. However, the burden is on the claimant to show that their feelings have been injured and to what extent. A claimant is also not necessarily required to show medical evidence of injury to feelings as the tribunal has to consider and analyse the claimant’s feelings as a result of the discrimination.
Tribunals ultimately have to undertake a balancing act to ensure that awards for injury to feelings are not so high as to amount to a windfall but neither should they be so low as to diminish respect for the law. They have to be assessed on a case-by-case basis where it is to compensate for the losses suffered as a result of discrimination or harassment.
Some of the factors which tribunals have taken into account have been:
- Personal characteristics – for example if a claimant reacted to the discrimination more severely than others, then this should be accounted for.
- The seriousness of the unlawful treatment.
- Any medical condition from which the claimant is suffering.
- The nature of the claimant’s job and the effect the discrimination has on their career.
- The manner in which the respondent dealt with any grievance brought by the claimant.
How were Vento bands established?
In the leading case of Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Policy (No 3) [2003] IRLR 102, the Court of Appeal set clear guidelines for the amount of compensation to be given for injured feelings and set out three bands of potential awards:
- The lower band for “less serious cases, such as where the act of discrimination is an isolated or one-off occurrence”.
- The middle band for “serious cases, which do not merit an award in the highest band”.
- The top band for “the most serious cases, such as where there has been a lengthy campaign of discriminatory harassment on the ground of sex or race”. Only in “the most exceptional case” should an award for injury to feelings exceed the top of this band.
Since this case, the figures are now updated annually in April for inflation by Presidential guidance.
The new Vento bands from April 2025
For claims presented on or after 6 April 2025, the bands will be as follows:
- A lower band of £1,200 - £12,100 for less serious cases;
- A middle band of £12,100 - £36,400 for cases that do not merit an award in the upper band;
- An upper band of £36,400 - £60,700 for the most serious cases; and
- The most exceptional cases capable of exceeding £60,700.
The increases are in line with inflation but ensure that tribunals uniformly consider the same guidelines.
If you are seeking any support with pursuing a discrimination or harassment claim or, as an employer, want advice on how you can defend a discrimination or harassment claim and/or create a more inclusive working environment, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our employment team.