Guidance about how employers that do not pay employment tribunal awards will be named has been published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
Naming employers that fail to pay tribunal awards is part of the government’s package of reforms to strengthen employment rights. The scheme is structured similarly to the existing scheme for National Minimum Wage underpayment and will name employers, along with the unpaid employment tribunal award, approximately quarterly in a press release on GOV.UK.
The aim of the scheme is to increase the rate of timely payment of employment tribunal awards by creating a new deterrent to employers for not paying. It will run in parallel to BEIS’ existing penalty scheme, which provides a free route for individuals to chase outstanding employment awards and can impose additional penalties on employers of 50 per cent of the original award amount if the award remains unpaid.
Individuals can apply to name employers by registering with BEIS. However, they must also register with the penalty scheme for administrative purposes. The scheme will be open from 18 December 2018 onwards and will only apply to tribunal awards of £200 or more.
BEIS will write to inform employers that they will be named in a press release for failing to pay. The employer will then have 14 days from the date of the naming notification letter to make written representations to BEIS outlining whether they fall under any of the exceptional circumstances for not being named under the scheme.
