Miss Alice Wright v The Boathouse — 2021

Miss Alice Wright brought claims arising from the ending of her employment with The Boathouse. The tribunal found that she had not been given a copy of her contract and accepted her evidence that she sought guidance from managers about notice. It found that an authorised manager, Thomas, told her she had to give four weeks' notice, and that this instruction formed part of the contractual arrangements between the parties. The tribunal also noted that the statutory minimum notice would otherwise have been one week under section 86 ERA.

The tribunal found that the claimant gave notice on 26 April 2021 and that her employment came to an end on 16 May 2021, taking account of her agreed unavailability from 20 May 2021 because she was moving to Durham. WhatsApp messages, which the respondent accepted had been sent, led the tribunal to find that she was willing to work in May 2021 and had offered to work two weekends during the notice period. It accepted her ET1 figure of £458 monthly earnings and calculated an hourly rate of £9.54, then assessed the notice-pay loss at £228.96 gross for the two weekends she was available to work.

The tribunal found no evidence to quantify any further loss, including the debt said to have been owed to the claimant's mother. It therefore awarded £228.96 gross for the unpaid notice pay and a further £228.96 under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002 because the respondent had not provided a written statement of employment particulars. The judgment records that both sums were gross and that the claimant was responsible for any tax and National Insurance deductions.