Schedule of loss: what it is and how to prepare one

What is a schedule of loss?

A schedule of loss is a written list of the money you claim at an employment tribunal. For each amount, it shows how it was worked out: the number of weeks, the weekly pay, the dates and the sums taken off.

There is no official form. In England and Wales, the tribunal presidents’ guidance calls it a “statement of remedy” or “schedule of loss”. It says the tribunal will usually order the claimant to make a calculation showing how each amount claimed has been worked out, and that each type of loss should be shown separately.

It helps everyone: your employer knows what is claimed, Acas or the parties can discuss a settlement on real figures, and the judge can check each line.

When do you need one?

Usually when the tribunal orders it, after your claim is accepted. The order gives a date. The guidance says the statement should be produced early in the proceedings and updated near the hearing date, because some losses keep growing until then.

The ET1 claim form already asks what you want and, if you want compensation, roughly how much (section 9). A schedule of loss goes further, with the detail. The ET1 preparation sheet helps you gather your figures for that form.

What goes into a schedule of loss?

It depends on the claims you make. For an unfair dismissal claim, the usual parts are:

Part	What it covers	How it is worked out
Basic award	A fixed amount	Years of service × age band × week’s pay, capped at £751 ERA 1996, s.119
Loss of earnings to date	Pay lost from your last day to the date of the schedule	Weeks × weekly pay lost
Future loss	Pay you expect to lose after the hearing	Weeks × weekly shortfall, with your reasons
Lost benefits	Pension contributions, company car, health cover	Value per week or per year
Expenses	Costs caused by the dismissal, such as job search	Receipts
Deductions	New earnings, payments already received	Taken off, with dates

The compensatory award is the amount the tribunal finds just and equitable for your loss s.123. If your effective date of termination is before 1 January 2027, it is capped at the lower of £123,543 and 52 weeks’ pay s.124. The cap goes for dismissals effective on or after 1 January 2027. The unfair dismissal compensation guide explains both awards and the cap.

Other claims add their own lines:

• Unpaid wages, holiday pay or notice pay: the exact sums due and not paid. These are separate claims, not part of the unfair dismissal award.
• Discrimination: the guidance lists injury to feelings. The tribunal uses bands, called the Vento bands, updated each year; the guidance asks the claimant to say which band they think applies.
• Pension loss: the tribunal presidents publish separate guidance on it.

How to prepare it, step by step

1. Gather your documents. Contract, payslips, P45, letters about your dismissal, your new contract if you have one. The guidance lists payslips for the last 13 weeks among the information needed.
2. Fix your weekly pay. Write down your pay before tax and your take-home pay. The ET1 form asks for both. Say which figure you use for each line.
3. Work out the basic award from your years of service and your age in each year. The redundancy pay guide shows the same formula with examples.
4. List your loss to date. From your last day to the date of the schedule, week by week. Take off what you earned in any new job.
5. Estimate future loss. How long you expect to be out of work, or paid less. Explain why, for example the number of jobs applied for and the replies.
6. Add benefits and expenses, with the value of each.
7. Take off what you received, such as a redundancy payment or money paid at the end of your job.
8. Note any state benefits. The guidance asks for the type of benefit, the dates, the amount and your National Insurance number. Some benefits can be recovered from an award, so the tribunal needs this.
9. Add your proof of job search. The guidance says the claimant should provide evidence of attempts to find work, and of any new earnings.
10. Date it, and update it before the hearing.

Keep each calculation simple and visible. A judge should be able to redo it with a calculator.

A worked example

A fictional case, to show the layout. Alex is 45, with 10 full years of service, and earned £800 a week before tax and £600 after tax. The dismissal took effect on 15 October 2026. Alex was out of work for 20 weeks, then found a job paying £550 a week after tax. Alex’s holiday year started on 1 January, with 28 days a year, and 18 days had been taken: the final payslip left out the holiday still due.

Item	Calculation	Amount
Basic award	(4 years × 1.5) + (6 years × 1) = 12 weeks × £751	£9,012.00
Loss of earnings to date	20 weeks × £600 (take-home)	£12,000.00
Future loss	£50 a week less in the new job × 26 weeks	£1,300.00
Job search expenses	Travel to interviews (receipts)	£120.00
Compensatory award	Total of the three lines above	£13,420.00
Cap check	Lower of £123,543 and 52 × £800 = £41,600: not reached	—
Unpaid holiday pay (separate claim)	28 days × 288/365 − 18 = 4.09315 days × £160 a day (£800 ÷ 5)	£654.90
Total claimed		£23,086.90

The example uses take-home pay for loss of earnings and says so in the calculation. Holiday pay is due before tax, so that line uses the £800. The holiday pay line comes from the same method as the holiday pay guide. The amounts are what Alex claims, not what a tribunal would award: the tribunal decides each line, and can reduce it.

Mistakes to avoid

• One global figure with no calculation behind it.
• Counting the same loss twice, for example notice pay in both the loss of earnings and a notice pay claim.
• Forgetting to take off new earnings or money already received.
• No proof of job search.
• An old schedule at the hearing, never updated.
• A figure you cannot explain. The schedule is your claim, in your own words and numbers.

Northern Ireland and Scotland

The guidance used here is the one for England and Wales. Scotland has its own tribunal presidency; we have not read its guidance on this point. Northern Ireland has its own industrial tribunals. Ask the tribunal office if you are unsure what is expected.

What to do now

1. Check what you were not paid, free. The final pay checker gives a line-by-line table of what is due, what you received and the gap. The redundancy pay, notice pay and holiday pay calculators show how each amount is worked out.
2. Put it in writing. If money is still owed, you can prepare a final pay claim letter yourself (£9, or £19 with a follow-up letter and reminders).
3. Next step. Check your tribunal time limit, and see how much a tribunal costs. Acas, Citizens Advice, a trade union or a solicitor can also help you with a schedule of loss.