EU law requires Member States to introduce dissuasive sanctions for breaches of the prohibition of discrimination in employment to their national legal systems. The Court of Justice of the European Union makes a clear distinction between the deterrent function of sanctions and their compensatory function. The analysis of its case law leads to the conclusion that the deterrent function implies the possibility of applying punitive measures in order to dissuade an employer from future infringements of the prohibition of discrimination. However, there are doubts as to whether the preventive objective can be achieved by means of compensatory measures, the main purpose of which is to provide protection for the employee. Despite the limitations related to the nature of these measures, the Supreme Court seeks the possibility of giving a deterrent character to the compensation provided for in Article 183d of the Labour Code, in so far as it is intended to compensate for the non-material damage suffered by the employee.