Miss M Baylis v Benjamin Archer — 2022

On reconsideration, Employment Judge Flood sitting alone and on the papers revoked the judgment that had been entered against Benjamin Archer on 19 October 2022. The tribunal accepted Archer's evidence that the claimant's contract of employment was with Monarch Marketing Enterprise Limited, and not with Archer personally, so the complaints of unpaid holiday pay, breach of contract and unauthorised deductions of wages did not properly lie against him.

The tribunal noted the claimant's point that Archer was a director of the company and had at times arranged payment of wages from his personal bank account, but held that this did not make him the claimant's employer for the purposes of these claims. The tribunal relied on the principle that a company is a separate legal entity, and said that if Archer had not employed the claimant, he could not be directly liable under the relevant statutory provisions.

The tribunal also held that it had no jurisdiction to determine matters about directors' fiduciary obligations or to provide a remedy for alleged failures by a director to comply with Companies Act duties. It further observed that enforcement of tribunal judgments is a matter for the civil courts, not the Employment Tribunal. The judgment against Monarch Marketing Enterprise Limited remained in force, but all claims against Benjamin Archer were dismissed.