Increased compensation for hurt and humiliation

2018 marks a big shift in the market for compensation awards for employees who have suffered emotional harm in the workplace. The importance of treating employees in good faith and ensuring processes are followed correctly is more important than ever to avoid any risk of facing large compensation costs. 

Compensation payments cover humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to feelings in the workplace under the Employment Relations Act 2000. Over the past 25 years, compensation awards were typically under $10,000, averaging around $6,000, with rare cases awarded between $35,000 and $50,000. 

Due to an increase of cases over the years, payment guidelines were introduced by the court in 2017 to determine low, medium and high-level cases to help create consistency across cases. Fast forward to 2018, the average settlements are being awarded $12,500 and the number of cases is on a rapid rise therefore we highly recommend Employers to review their processes and ensure actions are fair and reasonable.

If you have a tricky employee situation or any other questions surrounding your processes, give us a call 09 299 2525 – we’d love to help. 

Check out our recent polls on Facebook: