ACAS uplift

When an employer ignores the ACAS disciplinary and grievance Code, a tribunal can add up to 25% to your compensation. Understanding how the adjustment works — and what triggers it — can materially change the value of your claim.

Does the ACAS uplift apply to the basic award as well as the compensatory award?

No. The uplift under section 207A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 applies only to the compensatory award and certain other tribunal awards — not to the basic award. The basic award is calculated by a fixed formula based on age, service and weekly pay, and no percentage adjustment is applied to it.

Does the uplift apply automatically if my employer broke the Code?

No. You must invite the tribunal to apply an uplift and explain why the employer's conduct was unreasonable. The tribunal then has full discretion on whether to adjust, and by how much — up to a maximum of 25 percent. A technical breach of the Code with no practical impact on the outcome is unlikely to attract a significant uplift.

Can the employer ask for a reduction if I refused to use the grievance procedure?

Yes. Section 207A works symmetrically. If you unreasonably failed to raise a grievance, appeal a warning, or otherwise follow the Code when it was open to you to do so, the tribunal may reduce your award by up to 25 percent. The reduction is separate from and in addition to any contributory fault reduction.

Does a gross misconduct dismissal still have to follow the ACAS Code?

Yes. Even where an employer dismisses for gross misconduct, the Code requires a fair investigation, a disciplinary hearing and an opportunity to appeal. Dismissing without these steps, even for serious misconduct, can still attract an uplift if the employee wins their case — subject to the tribunal's assessment of how unreasonable the failure was.

What if my employer had a different internal procedure and followed that instead of the Code?

The ACAS Code sets minimum standards. An employer whose own procedure is more thorough than the Code will satisfy it. An employer who relies on a weaker internal procedure is likely to be found in breach of the Code. Following a procedure that omits investigation, fails to give written reasons, or denies a right of appeal will not satisfy the Code just because the employer calls it their own policy.

Can I claim the uplift if I resigned and am bringing a constructive dismissal claim?

Yes, if you raised a formal grievance before resigning and the employer failed to deal with it in accordance with the Code, that failure can be relied on in a constructive dismissal claim and could attract an uplift to the compensatory award. The closer the link between the procedural failure and the conduct that drove you out, the stronger the argument.

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Last reviewed: June 2026

is a percentage increase of up to

applied to your tribunal award where your employer unreasonably failed to follow the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures; if it was

who failed, a matching reduction applies instead.

Where this comes from

Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, s.207A

— inserted by the Employment Act 2008; gives tribunals the power to adjust awards by up to 25% for unreasonable failure to follow the Code.

ACAS Code of Practice 1 — Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures (2015)

— the benchmark procedure against which employer and employee conduct is assessed.

ACAS — Discipline and grievances at work (non-statutory guide)

— more detailed practical guidance that sits alongside the Code.

gov.uk — Employment tribunals

What the ACAS uplift actually is

Before 2009, employment law used a system of statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedures, with automatic unfair dismissal if the employer did not follow them. The Employment Act 2008 scrapped that rigid approach and replaced it with something more flexible: a voluntary Code of Practice, backed by a financial incentive to follow it.

The ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures sets out minimum standards for how employers must handle disciplinary matters and grievances. The key requirements are: investigate the alleged misconduct or performance issue properly before any disciplinary action; write to the employee setting out the problem and the potential consequences; hold a meeting and let the employee be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative; tell the employee the outcome in writing; and give them a right of appeal to a more senior manager.

Section 207A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 gives employment tribunals the power to adjust awards by up to 25 percent in either direction where a party has

unreasonably failed to comply

with the Code. The key word is unreasonably. A technical breach with no real impact, or one caused by circumstances outside the employer's control, may not attract any adjustment. But a pattern of corner-cutting — no investigation, no hearing, no appeal — almost always will.

The uplift applies to the compensatory award in unfair dismissal claims, and to compensation in certain other tribunal claims where the Code is relevant, such as whistleblowing detriment and some discrimination cases. It does not apply to the basic award, which is calculated by a fixed statutory formula unaffected by procedural conduct.

The adjustment is applied

all other reductions to the compensatory award — so after any Polkey reduction (for the chance the dismissal would have happened fairly anyway) and after any contributory fault reduction (for the employee's own conduct). This ordering matters: an employer who both made a Polkey error and ignored the Code will find both reductions applied in the calculation, with the uplift then increasing whatever remains.

How it works in practice

David worked as a logistics coordinator for five years. His employer discovered that two deliveries had been wrongly routed in a single month and immediately

dismissed him by letter

without any investigation, without informing him of the specific allegations, without holding a hearing, and without offering a right of appeal.

The tribunal finds the dismissal unfair. David was not given a fair chance to explain the errors — which turned out to be partly caused by a software problem — and even if he had been responsible, the employer had no graduated disciplinary history. The compensatory award before adjustments is

. There is no Polkey reduction (the tribunal thinks a fair procedure would probably have resulted in a written warning, not dismissal) and no contributory fault.

Compensatory award (before adjustment)

ACAS uplift (20% — serious procedural failures)

Compensatory award (after uplift)

The tribunal awards a 20% uplift. The employer skipped every step of the Code — there was no investigation, no hearing and no appeal. That is about as serious a set of procedural failures as there can be. A tribunal might go higher in extreme cases, but 20% reflects the gravity without automatically reaching the ceiling.

Had David also refused to attend an appeal hearing (even though the employer had not offered one), the employer might have argued for a reduction. Here that argument was unavailable because the employer never raised the possibility of appeal at all.

Common pitfalls for claimants

• Not asking for the uplift.
• The ACAS uplift is not applied automatically. You must identify the specific Code failures in your claim and ask the tribunal to apply an uplift. Leaving it out of your ET1 or your remedy submissions means the tribunal may not consider it at all.
• Thinking gross misconduct is exempt.
• It is not. The Code applies to all disciplinary situations, including summary dismissal for gross misconduct. An employer who skips the investigation or hearing in a gross misconduct case is still in breach of the Code, even if the underlying conduct was serious.
• Forgetting the reduction can cut both ways.
• If you refused to use the grievance procedure when it was available, declined to appeal a warning, or walked out before being given a chance to respond, the employer may ask for a downward adjustment to your award. The Code creates obligations on both sides.
• Confusing the uplift with the minimum basic award.
• Some dismissed employees are entitled to a minimum basic award (for example, dismissal in connection with trade union activities). The minimum basic award and the ACAS uplift are separate provisions, calculated differently and applied to different parts of the award.
• Applying it before other reductions.
• The uplift is applied to the compensatory award
• Polkey and contributory fault reductions, not before. This is an easy calculation error when estimating a potential award.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & further reading

• Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, s.207A
• — the uplift and reduction power (legislation.gov.uk)
• ACAS Code of Practice 1 — Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures
• — the Code itself (ACAS)
• Discipline and grievances at work — the ACAS guide
• — non-statutory practical guidance (ACAS)
• Employment tribunals

Tracking your employer's procedural failures?

Start My Claim helps you build a dated record of what happened at each stage of your disciplinary or grievance process — evidence you will need to argue for an ACAS uplift.

Last reviewed: June 2026.

Statutory references checked against the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 as amended, and the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures as in force on 8 June 2026.

This page is explanatory only and is not legal advice. Start My Claim is self-service software, not a law firm — its tools help you build and run your own case.