Age discrimination cases see highest average payout

Employment Law & HR update 02/09/2011

Figures from the Tribunal Service have revealed that the average payout amount for discrimination claims made on the grounds of age has nearly trebled since 2009/10.

The statistics released by the service showed that the average payout in the year to the end of March 2011 was £30,289. This figure - the highest average award of discrimination cases brought for all reasons - was a rise of more than £16,000 from the figure in the year to March 2010.

Claims made on the grounds of disability had the next highest average payout, but the £14,137 received by claimants was less than half the amount received on average by people who had suffered from age discrimination.

The number of cases being brought by people who felt they had been treated badly because of their age rose by nearly a third in the 2010/2011 period as well. With 6,800 reported cases of age discrimination, it overtook race discrimination to become the third most common form of unfair treatment in the workplace.

The highest overall discrimination payout made by a company during the year in question was £289,167, made to an employee who suffered sex discrimination - which is the most common types of discrimination claim accepted by employment tribunals.

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