'I won £65,000 at an employment tribunal – but I've yet to see a penny'

The Employment Tribunal Penalty Enforcement and Naming Scheme was set up by the Conservative government in 2016, after a 2013 survey of 1,200 claimants found that more than a third hadn't received any money at all.

Under the free scheme, companies face a penalty if they don't pay within 28 days, and since 2018 they can also be named online by the government.

But of around 7,000 people who have used the scheme, more than 5,000 did not receive their payment or settlement, data from a Freedom of Information request suggests.

The data indicates that despite more than 4,800 penalties being issued, with a combined value of more than £9m, the government only recorded 109 as being paid.

It also suggests not a single employer has so far been named by the government for non-payment, despite nearly 4,000 requests being made.

Rosie Davies was awarded £6,000 in unpaid wages and breach of contract at an employment tribunal after she lost her job in motorsports.

But 18 months later, she says she is "still waiting for a penny of that money".

Claimants can also pursue their awards through the High Court – but the government doesn't track how many are successful.

Rosie used both schemes to try to get her award from her employer, Christian Elvidge, who runs production company Motorflix Ltd.

He hired Rosie through a separate firm – Motorflix Media Ltd. She was the only employee.

Mr Elvidge was sent penalty notices and High Court enforcement officers also went to his house. But Rosie says that when Mr Elvidge declared Motorflix Media Ltd had no assets, he wasn't pursued further.

The company is still registered, but has yet to file any accounts.

As well as the stress of going through the tribunal, Rosie says not getting the money "tipped things over the edge" for her finances, and she moved back in with her mum.

"I feel like I've gone back five years," she says. "The life I was making for myself I no longer have."

Rosie applied to have her employer named online too – but hasn't been successful.

She now wishes she "hadn't bothered" with the tribunal system.

"I thought the justice system would step in and make sure I received that money," she says.

Christian Elvidge was contacted for comment, but did not respond.

Tens of thousands of employment tribunal cases are launched every year – although the vast majority are settled, withdrawn or resolved before it gets to a hearing.

491,000 claims were open in March 2025, according to the Ministry of Justice.

Citizens Advice said the employment tribunal system was "completely broken".

"To have jumped through all of those hoops and then have a tribunal award that never gets paid is frankly scandalous," said policy manager Emer Sheehy.

The Federation of Small Businesses is among those calling for the system to be "overhauled".

Tribunals can be costly for businesses as well as employees, said policy director Tina McKenzie.

"There's currently more than a year's waiting list, and if the government brings in the reforms its proposing, it's going to get a lot worse," she says.

She said the most common reason an award from an employment tribunal isn't paid is that the company becomes insolvent – something she says has been a particular issue in the post-pandemic years covered by the data.

People who run limited companies are not personally liable for that company's debts.

The FSB's Tina McKenzie says it's "not ok" that some people miss out on their awards – but argues that she isn't surprised when "500,000 business have closed over the last four to five years".

She thinks there could be a case for a "central UK pot" that pays out those who are owed a tribunal award when a company becomes insolvent.

A government spokesperson said: "We recognise it requires improvement as we intend to strengthen enforcement of unpaid awards as part of the Plan for Change."

This was a joint project carried out with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ). TBIJ reporting team: Emiliano Mellino and Lucy Brisbane McKay.