Northern Ireland will uprate employment tribunal awards and related statutory payments from 6 April 2026. The Department for the Economy’s annual Order applies the usual inflation-linked formula, using the Retail Prices Index for September; ONS puts that at 4.5% for September 2025. For employers, this is a routine change-yet it feeds directly into redundancy costs, dismissal exposure and short-time working budgets. (niassembly.gov.uk)

Key figures first. The statutory limit on a week’s pay-used to calculate statutory redundancy pay and the basic award for unfair dismissal-rises from £749 to £783. The daily limit on statutory guarantee pay increases from £39 to £41. Both figures appear in the NI Assembly’s draft Order and are carried through in the final version. (niassembly.gov.uk)

Two headline caps also move higher. The maximum compensatory award for unfair dismissal in Northern Ireland increases to £123,785 (up from £118,455 in 2025/26). Because NI uses a slightly different rounding method to Great Britain, these limits often come out a touch higher, a point flagged by local HR advisers. The maximum possible basic award, which is capped at 30 weeks, therefore moves to £23,490 when the new week’s-pay figure is applied. (employersfederation.org)

Translate that into budgets and provisions. At the top end, a fully capped basic award or statutory redundancy payment rises by £1,020 (30 × £34). The unfair dismissal compensatory cap increases by £5,330 year on year. Individual case values will still turn on loss-of-earnings evidence and mitigation, but finance teams should refresh worst‑case models, particularly for long‑service, higher‑paid cohorts where the week’s‑pay cap bites most.

Guarantee pay matters in manufacturing, retail and other shift-based operations that occasionally run workless days. Moving the daily rate from £39 to £41 adds £2 per eligible day; line managers and payroll should ensure rostering systems, absence codes and payslips reflect the new rate from the first workless day on or after 6 April. (niassembly.gov.uk)

Transitional rules are simple but important. The new limits only apply where the ‘appropriate date’ falls on or after 6 April 2026. For unfair dismissal, that’s the effective date of termination; for redundancy, it’s the relevant date defined in legislation. Claims tied to earlier events will use last year’s amounts. HR and payroll should check the trigger date before setting reserves or making offers. (niassembly.gov.uk)

Cross‑border point for GB‑based employers: Great Britain publishes its own annual limits (indexed on a different basis). For 2025/26, GB’s week’s‑pay cap was £719 and the unfair dismissal compensatory cap £118,223-lower than NI’s. GB policy is also moving toward removing the unfair dismissal compensation cap from 2027, which would leave NI and GB on different risk footings for a period. Plan policies, reserves and settlement strategies accordingly. (knowledge.dlapiper.com)

Finally, not every claim is capped the same way. For example, discrimination and whistleblowing compensation in both jurisdictions can exceed the unfair dismissal limits, so case assessment still hinges on the pleaded causes of action. Legal teams should sanity‑check claim scopes early to avoid under‑reserving. (lewissilkin.com)