Mr J Tyler First v Oakvale Pine Ltd Second Respondent: Mr William John Pywell — 2023

The claimant had managed a Pine furniture shop in Swansea since August 1992. The tribunal found that after the business was sold after April 2019 to Mr William John Pywell, the claimant continued in the same role, was paid £372 weekly into his bank account, but was not given a contract, amended employment paperwork, or payslips. It accepted that wage payments became intermittent and that the claimant was last paid at the end of March 2022.

The tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence that on 31 May 2022 he arrived to find the shop locked and closed. It noted that he tried to contact Mr Pywell, who had blocked him, and that neither respondent filed a response or attended. Because the claimant had never been given proper documentation identifying his employer, the tribunal held that liability should fall jointly on Oakvale Pine Ltd and Mr Pywell.

The tribunal upheld the unpaid wages claim, the breach of contract claim for notice pay, the redundancy payment claim, and the holiday pay claim. It awarded 8 weeks' unpaid wages at £372 per week, 12 weeks' notice pay under s.86(1)(c) Employment Rights Act 1996, redundancy pay of £9,300 based on 25 weeks' pay, and holiday pay of £2,678.40. For holiday pay, it found that the claimant had only ever been paid for two weeks' leave per year, fixed the leave year from 1 August under Regulation 3(b)(i) of the Working Time Regulations 1998, and applied the two-year limit in s.23(4A) Employment Rights Act 1996.

The tribunal said all awards were made gross because the tax position was uncertain in the absence of payslips. It also found that the claimant was 51 when made redundant and that he had 20 years' service, including periods protected by the TUPE Regulations to preserve continuity.