Mr Graham Leslie Buckley v Hawk Developments Ltd — 2023

Mr Graham Leslie Buckley had been employed by Hawk Developments Ltd since 15 August 2010 and was dismissed without notice on 31 May 2022 by reason of redundancy when the respondent went into liquidation. The respondent did not appear at the hearing, and the liquidator’s ET3 was rejected as out of time. The tribunal still had to satisfy itself that an award was proper on the facts advanced by the claimant.

The tribunal accepted the claimant’s evidence that he had worked about four days a week, eight hours a day, with additional hours when required, and found that he was an employee with normal working hours and a minimum contractual commitment of 32 hours per week. Because no written contract or payslips had been provided, contrary to ss.1 and 8 ERA 1996, the tribunal relied on the claimant’s evidence and furlough payment information to accept a minimum weekly entitlement of £320 at £10 per hour. It applied s.222 ERA 1996, s.223 ERA 1996 and the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Coronavirus, Calculation of a Week’s Pay) Regulations 2020 when assessing week’s pay for redundancy purposes.

On that basis, and taking the claimant’s 11 complete years’ service, the tribunal awarded a redundancy payment of £5,280. It also awarded £3,840 gross for unpaid wages for the period identified by the claimant, and £3,840 gross for the unpaid twelve-week notice entitlement referred to in the dismissal correspondence, with deductions for tax and national insurance to be made from those elements if required.

The tribunal further found that the absence of written particulars and payslips for almost twelve years justified compensation under s.38 Employment Act 2002. It awarded four weeks’ pay for that breach, amounting to £1,280. The total award was £14,240, subject to any deductions from the wages and notice pay elements.