Vento bands
When discrimination causes distress and humiliation, the tribunal needs a framework to value it. The Vento bands are that framework — and where your case lands within them can mean the difference between a four-figure and a five-figure award.
What are the current Vento bands for 2026?
For claims presented on or after 6 April 2026: lower band £1,300 to £12,600 (less serious cases); middle band £12,600 to £37,700 (serious cases); upper band £37,700 to £62,900 (the most serious cases). Exceptionally serious cases can exceed £62,900. The figures are uprated annually by the Presidents of Employment Tribunals. Always check the current Presidential Guidance when finalising your schedule of loss.
Does a Vento award apply to unfair dismissal claims?
No. Vento bands apply only to discrimination and harassment claims under the Equality Act 2010. Unfair dismissal compensation uses a different structure: a basic award and a compensatory award. Those two are separate mechanisms and do not use the Vento framework.
Do I need a medical report to claim injury to feelings?
No. A medical report is not required for a standard injury to feelings (Vento) award. The tribunal will award compensation on the basis of your own evidence about the impact. A medical report becomes important if you are also claiming additional psychiatric injury damages, which require evidence of a diagnosable condition such as clinical depression or PTSD. That psychiatric injury award is separate from and in addition to the Vento award.
If I have multiple acts of discrimination, do I claim multiple bands?
No. The tribunal awards a single injury to feelings figure that reflects the overall impact of all the discrimination. Multiple acts or a sustained campaign will push you higher within a band or from the lower to the middle band, but you do not add bands together. The tribunal looks at the cumulative effect on your feelings and dignity and places a single figure that is just and equitable.
Is injury to feelings compensation taxable?
No. Injury to feelings awards are not taxable as income. The financial loss elements of a discrimination award, such as lost earnings, may have tax implications, but the Vento award itself is treated as compensation for personal injury and is generally tax-free. If you are in doubt, seek independent tax advice.
What are aggravated damages and when can I claim them?
Aggravated damages are an additional award available on top of the Vento band where the employer's conduct was high-handed, malicious or oppressive. Examples include a campaign of victimisation after you complained, deliberately lying about you at tribunal, or dismissing you for bringing a grievance. They must be specifically pleaded in your ET1 or particulars of claim. The tribunal will not award them unless you ask. Aggravated damages are typically in the range of £5,000 to £25,000, depending on the severity of the conduct.
Can my Vento award be reduced if I was partly at fault?
Contributory conduct reductions do not typically apply to injury to feelings awards in the same way they apply to compensatory awards in unfair dismissal. However, the tribunal does consider all the circumstances when placing the award within a band, and conduct by the claimant that contributed to the situation may be reflected in where within the band the figure is set. A ACAS uplift or reduction can also affect the overall compensation package.
Employment Tribunal · Glossary
When discrimination causes distress and humiliation, the tribunal needs a framework to value it. The Vento bands are that framework — and where your case lands within them can mean the difference between a four-figure and a five-figure award.
Last reviewed: June 2026
Employment Tribunal track
are three monetary ranges that employment tribunals use to assess
compensation in discrimination and harassment cases — lower (less serious), middle (serious) and upper (most serious) — updated annually by the Presidents of the Employment Tribunals.
Where this comes from
Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police [2002] EWCA Civ 1871
— the Court of Appeal judgment that created the three-band structure.
Da'Bell v NSPCC [2010] IRLR 19
— EAT uprated the bands and confirmed they apply to all discrimination strands.
Equality Act 2010, s.119
— the power to award compensation, including for injury to feelings, in discrimination claims.
Presidential Guidance on Vento bands (annual uprating)
— the authoritative source for current band figures, updated each April.
What Vento bands actually are
Discrimination is unlawful because of what it does to people — the humiliation of being treated worse because of who you are, the distress of knowing a colleague or manager sees you differently, the lasting effect on your confidence and sense of belonging at work. These are real harms, but they are not financial losses in the ordinary sense. You cannot produce a payslip for your loss of dignity.
Employment tribunal compensation for discrimination is uncapped. That reflects the seriousness of the claim. But without any framework, tribunals would struggle to be consistent, and awards would vary wildly from one panel to the next. The Vento bands were created to solve that problem: a structured range, updated for inflation, that anchors individual awards without removing judicial discretion.
The three bands come from a 2002 Court of Appeal judgment in which the police had subjected PC Vento to sustained sex discrimination and constructive dismissal. The Court of Appeal laid down three ranges and an exceptional category above them, with the clear instruction that awards should be neither trivial nor excessive. They should reflect real compensation for real injury to real feelings.
Since then the figures have been uprated annually by the Presidents of the Employment Tribunals to keep pace with inflation. The bands are not adjusted by the legislature — they are maintained by Presidential Guidance, which practitioners consult before drafting every schedule of loss in a discrimination case.
Injury to feelings compensation is separate from financial loss. A claimant who proves discrimination will receive both: financial compensation for lost earnings and career effects, and a Vento award for the personal impact. In serious cases there may also be a further award for
— a diagnosable condition that goes beyond distress — but that requires medical evidence and is awarded on top of the Vento band, not instead of it.
How it works in practice
The current bands, applicable to claims presented on or after 6 April 2026, are:
| Band | Range | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Lower | £1,300–£12,600 | Less serious cases: one-off acts of discrimination, relatively minor impact on feelings |
| Middle | £12,600–£37,700 | Serious cases: a sustained course of conduct or one particularly serious incident with significant impact |
| Upper | £37,700–£62,900 | Most serious cases: lengthy campaigns, deliberate or repeated conduct, severe and lasting effect |
| Exceptional | Above £62,900 | Only in the most exceptional circumstances — very rarely awarded |
Grace is a junior hospital administrator. Over 18 months her line manager — who knows Grace is Muslim — repeatedly schedules her shift briefings during Friday prayers, ignores her requests to swap, and makes comments about whether she is "really committed" to the job. Grace raises two grievances. Both are dismissed without a proper investigation. She eventually resigns and brings claims of indirect religious discrimination and harassment related to religion.
The tribunal upholds both claims and turns to remedy. On injury to feelings:
Duration of the conduct
Grievances dismissed without investigation
Effect on Grace (her evidence)
Anxiety, loss of confidence, left career she valued
Band the tribunal places the case in
for injury to feelings — near the top of the middle band, reflecting the sustained nature of the conduct, the failed grievance process (which the tribunal treats as an aggravating factor), and the lasting effect on Grace's confidence and career. Grace has no medical diagnosis, so no psychiatric injury award is made on top.
Had Grace obtained a GP or psychiatric report showing a clinical anxiety disorder, a further award for psychiatric injury would have been available — in addition to the £28,000, not instead of it.
Common pitfalls for claimants
- Treating injury to feelings as automatic.
- You still have to evidence it. A personal statement describing the impact of the discrimination on your daily life, relationships, sleep, confidence and career is essential. The tribunal will not simply assume distress — you have to give it something to assess.
- Using the wrong current figures.
- The bands are updated every April. Using figures from a previous year's Presidential Guidance in your schedule of loss is a common mistake. Always download the current guidance before finalising your schedule.
- Claiming a band without justification.
- Simply asserting you suffered greatly and should be in the upper band, without evidence of duration, severity and impact, is unlikely to succeed. The tribunal needs facts to anchor the figure.
- Forgetting to plead aggravated damages separately.
- If the employer's post-discrimination conduct was high-handed — a dismissal for complaining, deliberate lies at tribunal, a campaign of victimisation — you can claim aggravated damages on top of the Vento award. But you must plead them specifically in your ET1 or particulars of claim. The tribunal will not award them of its own motion.
- Conflating the Vento award with financial loss.
- The Vento award covers distress and humiliation. Your financial loss — lost earnings, pension loss, future career loss — is a separate head of claim. Both are available in a discrimination case, and both need separate evidence and calculation.
- Not obtaining a medical report when it matters.
- For lower-band claims, medical evidence is not required. But if the discrimination caused a diagnosable condition — depression, PTSD, an anxiety disorder — a medical report from a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist is needed to recover psychiatric injury damages on top of the Vento band. Leaving this out means leaving money on the table.
Frequently asked questions
Sources & further reading
- Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police [2002] EWCA Civ 1871
- — full judgment (BAILII)
- Da'Bell v NSPCC [2010] IRLR 19
- — EAT uprating judgment (BAILII)
- Equality Act 2010, section 119
- — compensation in discrimination claims (legislation.gov.uk)
- Presidential Guidance on Vento bands
- — current uprated figures (judiciary.gov.uk)
- Discrimination and the law
- What you can claim from an employment tribunal
Calculating your injury to feelings claim?
Start My Claim helps you gather your evidence, identify which Vento band applies, and build a complete schedule of loss — covering financial loss and injury to feelings together.
Last reviewed: June 2026.
Vento band figures reflect the Presidential Guidance applicable to claims presented on or after 6 April 2026. Always verify current figures against the latest Presidential Guidance before finalising your schedule of loss.
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.