Mr G Bojarski and v Andrzej Igielski t/a Andrews Garden Services — 2021

The claimant presented claims on 8 June 2020 including unfair dismissal, holiday pay, notice pay, arrears of pay and other payments. By a judgment dated 18 November 2021, the unfair dismissal claim was struck out because the claimant had been employed for less than two years.

The final hearing took place on 26 November 2021 before Employment Judge Choudry. The claimant did not attend, although the respondent attended in person. The tribunal telephoned the claimant on the numbers provided and left a message asking him to make urgent contact, but no response was received. The tribunal was satisfied that the claimant had adequate notice of the hearing and that all practicable enquiries had been made to identify the reason for his absence.

No documents, witness statements or contract were before the tribunal. The respondent said the claimant was engaged on a self-employed basis rather than as an employee or worker, placing the burden on the claimant to establish employment status. In the claimant's absence, the tribunal said it was not able to proceed substantively with the remaining claims.

The claims for holiday pay, notice pay, arrears of pay and other payments were dismissed under rule 47 of the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013.