Employment Tribunals – the scandal of unpaid worker compensation

New government research has found that over half of the workers awarded compensation at an Employment Tribunal do not receive payment in full. The Payment of Tribunal Awards 2013 investigation identified that one of the most common reasons workers do not receive payment was because employers simply refuse to pay up. Over a third of claimants who had been awarded compensation received nothing whatsoever and 16% were paid only part of the money they were owed.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-considering-new-powers-to-tackle-non-payment-of-tribunal-awards
http://www.ier.org.uk/news/over-half-workers-awarded-compensation-employment-tribunal-do-not-receive-it-study-shows

The myth of a workplace compensation culture

In 2010 Tory Grandee Lord Young published a report ‘Common Sense, Common Safety’ following a Con Dem initiated review of health and safety laws. The Prime Minister responded to the report by saying “a damaging compensation culture has arisen, as if people can absolve themselves from any personal responsibility for their own actions, with the spectre of lawyers only too willing to pounce with a claim for damages on the slightest pretext. We simply cannot go on like this.” In 2011/12 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimated that over 600,000 workers suffered a workplace injury or a new work-related illness. Yet the total number of civil compensation settlements for work-related injuries or diseases in 2011/12 was only 87,655 – so fewer than 1 in 7 injured workers received compensation according to a new Hazards report:
http://www.hazards.org/votetodie/robbed.htm

Con Dems' attack Criminal Injury Compensation Scheme

Tribune reports on Con Dem proposals to make massive cuts to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. Tory Justice Secretary Chris Grayling MP is driving through the changes which will abolish or severely restrict compensation payments for victims of attacks at work ('including people with sprained wrists and those scarred by knife attacks'):
http://www.tribunemagazine.co.uk/2012/11/the-true-face-of-compassionate-conservatism/