Employment law and labour relations rates and limits are published ahead of the new tax year and are effective 06 April.
These set the values for things such as:
- The daily amount of guarantee payments
- The value of ‘a week’s pay’ (for redundancy and insolvencies) and
- The maximum compensatory award in unfair dismissal claims
This article gives a UK-wide consolidation of these values and we compare the 2026/27 values (in red) to those applying in 2025/26.
It’s another thing we need to be aware of, complicated by the fact that employment law and labour relations are devolved to Northern Ireland. This means we must consider two sets of rates:
- Great Britain – for payments and awards arising from provisions under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and / or the Employment Rights Act 1996
- Northern Ireland - for payments and awards arising from provisions under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and / or the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996
Great Britain
As per The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2026:
|
Subject of Payment / Award and Limit Effective:
|
06 April 2025
|
06 April 2026
|
|
Award for unlawful inducement relating to union membership or activities, or to collective bargaining (1992 Act)
|
£5,735
|
£5,993
|
|
Minimum basic award for unfair dismissal or selection for redundancy on grounds related to union membership or activities (1992 Act)
|
£8,763
|
£9,157
|
|
Minimum compensation awarded for exclusion or expulsion from a trade union (1992 Act)
|
£13,384
|
£13,986
|
|
Maximum amount of award for failure to allocate and pay tips fairly (1996 Act)
|
£5,135
|
£5,366
|
|
Maximum amount of award for failure to have a written policy on dealing with qualifying tips, gratuities and service charges and / or recordkeeping (1996 Act)
|
£5,135
|
£5,366
|
|
Limit on daily amount of guarantee payment (1996 Act)
|
£39
|
£41
|
|
Minimum amount of basic award of compensation where dismissal is unfair by virtue of sections 100(1)(a) and (b), 101A(d), 102(1) or 103 (1996 Act)
|
£8,763
|
£9,157
|
|
Limit on amount of compensatory award for unfair dismissal (1996 Act)
|
£118,223
|
£123,543
|
|
Maximum weekly amount paid from National Insurance Fund to pay contractual debts owed on the insolvency of the employer (1996 Act)
|
£719
|
£751
|
|
Maximum weekly amount of a basic or additional award of compensation for unfair dismissal or redundancy payment (1996 Act)
|
£719
|
£751
|
Northern Ireland
As per The Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order (Northern Ireland) 2026:
|
Subject of Provision
|
06 April 2025
|
06 April 2026
|
|
Minimum compensation awarded by the Industrial Tribunal for exclusion or expulsion from a trade union (1995 Order)
|
£13,651
|
£14,265
|
|
Maximum amount of ‘a week’s pay’ for basic or additional awards of compensation for unfair dismissal or redundancy payment (1996 Order)
|
£749
|
£783
|
|
Limit on daily amount of guarantee payment (1996 Order)
|
£39
|
£41
|
|
Award for unlawful inducement relating to union membership or activities, or to collective bargaining (1996 Order)
|
£6,019
|
£6,290
|
|
Minimum basic award for unfair dismissal or selection for redundancy on grounds related to health and safety, union membership or activities, or a trustee of an occupational pension scheme (1996 Order)
|
£9,102
|
£9,512
|
|
Limit on amount of compensatory award for unfair dismissal (1996 Order)
|
£118,455
|
£123,785
|
|
Limit on weekly amount payable from the National Insurance Fund to the employee in respect of insolvency of the employer (1996 Order)
|
£749
|
£783
|
For Bookkeepers
With the wide range of information employers and bookkeepers are expected to be aware of, this is another set of thresholds! However, it is only two you may come across:
1. The daily guarantee payment (the maximum of £41 per day) that are payments an employer might ask you to make when they have to lay-off employees for a period, say due to the employer requirement for short-time working;
2. The maximum value of a week’s pay (£751 in Great Britain and £783 in Northen Ireland) in statutory redundancy cases;
In Great Britain, the other payments are awarded by Employment Tribunals or the National Insurance Fund where the employer claims insolvency (and cannot make the statutory redundancy payment themselves). The awards in relation to the allocation of tips or failure to keep a policy are made to employees who bring claims to Employment Tribunals which apply in Great Britain only (as there is no similar employment law legislation in Northern Ireland).
In Northern Ireland, the other payments are awarded by Industrial Tribunals, the Fair Employment Tribunal or the UK-wide National Insurance Fund.
