Miss KA Dobbin v J&S Venture Ltd — 2020

The claimant presented claims of unfair dismissal, unlawful deductions from wages and unpaid holiday pay on 7 January 2020 following her dismissal by email on 18 December 2019 after a bereavement. The respondent presented a response on 7 February 2020 and indicated that it did not defend the claims. A liability judgment had already been sent to the parties on 18 March 2020, and the remedy was listed for 5 May 2020.

The remedy hearing was converted to a telephone hearing because of Covid. Employment Judge JM Wade reviewed the file, heard from the claimant by telephone and noted that the claimant had provided extensive written material. The tribunal accepted the limited information it needed to assess remedy, including that the claimant's salary was £18,600, she had seven years' service at all times under the age of 41, she had been on bereavement leave from 29 to 31 October 2019, then unpaid to 18 November 2019, followed by four weeks certified as unfit for work before dismissal, and that she received £642.91 only for November and no pay for December.

The tribunal did not address the respondent's attempt to challenge the earlier liability judgment. On remedy, it awarded a basic award of £2,503.83 and a compensatory award of £6,770.72, with the compensatory award broken down into £2,146.16 for six weeks' gross pay, £4,000 future loss, £500 loss of statutory rights and £124.56 lost pension payments. It also awarded £1,586.53 for unpaid holiday pay/lieu pay on termination and unlawful deduction from wages. The grand total was £10,861.08 and the recoupment regulations did not apply.