Tribunal Payout!!????

[Drea32]

Hello, I won an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal last year and was awarded a lot of money but only half of it was paid to me. Can anyone advise me if this is correct? I represented myself so there was no legal cost. I was told that HMRC takes tax....is this true? if so is it fair for them to take HALF? I have tried speaking to HMRC to find out if they have received a pay out regarding myself but they have no idea Have my old evil employer ripped me off!?

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Ask the Tribunal Service to justify their findings and award.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

I think you probably need to tell us more about what was said about the award. Is there a reason why only half was paid by your ex-employer please?

 

I didn't think HMRC were involved in this, but I could be wrong. I hope the forum guys will be along later with advice for you.

 

My best, HB

Edited October 15, 2013 by honeybee13

[Haven]

From experience of employment tribunals any award doesnt take into account tax or NI unless stated at the time you would have to declare this money as income. Did the money paid come from your ex employer? What does the award notice state?

[Sidewinder]

If the compensation awarded by the ET was below £30,000 then there should not be a tax liability in normal circumstances so far as I am aware. Where the aggregated payments for the basic and compensatory awards exceed the £30,000 threshold, then tax is payable only on the amount over and above the £30,000 exemption limit - however, it is normally the case that the ET award is stated as a Gross amount, before any tax liability, so if the aggregated award were, say, £50,000 then that should be what you are entitled to less the tax on the £20,000 over the £30,000 threshold.

 

This is all subject to the many and varied finer points of PAYE and the Judgment may not have made it clear that there might be a tax liability, subject to the value of the total award. I don't know how that would equate to losing 50% of the award though?

[smokejumper]

Probably not much help, but, is it possible the respondent has been given time to pay and can only afford half now.

 

I would either contact the tribunal service or the respondent.

[steampowered]

I think you would need to contact the Respondent rather than the Tribunal, and ask them to explain what has happened to the rest of the money. If you need to enforce the Tribunal award that would be done through the county courts not through the Tribunal.

[Drea32]

Thanks everyone for ideas/advice. I had to put in a claim for loss of earnings = 28 weeks=£7,721. I claimed Job Seekers allowance for this period but obviously what I received for JSA was a lot less than my wage. £7,721 was not paid to me, this was subtracted from the full amount awarded and I was paid the remainder. The judgement on remedy does mention 'for the purpose of the Recoupment Regulations for is £15,857.92, that being the total amount less basic award.' Does Recoupment Regulation mean they take back what was paid to me in benefits for the period I claimed loss of earnings?? If so they should not take the full amount. I might have to get in contact with respondent again (I really don't what to speak to them ever again) but may have to.

[Pusillanimous]

That sound about right. If your award included loss of pay then it would be taxable at your normal rate of income tax and any benefits you received would be deductible. It is only the compensation element (which doesn't apply to unfair dismissal but only discrimination injury to feelings and personal injury) that is tax free.

[steampowered]

My understanding is that the Recoupment Regulations allow DWP to recoup the JSA or income support paid between the time of termination and the Tribunal hearing. It sounds like this is what happened. Have a read of http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1996/2349/contents/made.

 

My understanding is that DWP should have served a recoupment notice on the employer and sent a copy to you. You should try to get a copy of this notice to check that the correct amount has been deducted. If you don't have this it would be best to ask the employer for a copy or perhaps the Job Centre can help.