451.This section enables a Minister of the Crown to make regulations enabling an employment tribunal to add interest payments to any award of compensation made to a claimant as a result of a discrimination case brought under this Act. The regulations can set out how the tribunal should calculate how much interest should be paid.
452.The regulations may provide that interest is to be calculated in a different way in discrimination proceedings from how it is in other cases before the employment tribunals, so they can modify the effect of an order made under the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 about interest calculations which applies to employment cases more generally.
453.This replicates powers contained in previous legislation.
A claimant is awarded compensation for being discriminated against by his employer. Regulations made under this section may provide that if the award is not settled by the respondent within 14 days of the employment tribunal’s decision then interest is to accrue on this award. The current regulations specify that the rate of interest applied to unpaid awards is fixed at 8%. A different rate can be applied if this is provided in regulations.