Mr A Dobson v Ms C Howarth — 2020

The respondent did not attend or participate in the hearing. The tribunal heard from the claimant and found that, although he was not expressly dismissed, dismissal could be inferred from the respondent's conduct: she closed the café, did not provide work, did not pay wages, and did not respond to the claimant's text of 3 July 2020 or the email from Mrs Dobson of 11 July 2020. The tribunal treated 6 September 2020, when the claim was presented, as the effective date of termination.

On that basis, the tribunal held that the claimant had suffered an unauthorised deduction from wages for the period 31 March 2020 to 6 September 2020 and awarded £1,500, calculated at £150 per week for 10 unpaid weeks. It also held that the dismissal was wrongful because no notice was given. Applying the Employment Rights Act 1996 section 86, the tribunal found the claimant had five years' service for notice purposes and awarded five weeks' notice pay, namely £750.

The tribunal further found that the reason for dismissal was redundancy and awarded a statutory redundancy payment of £225. It accepted the claimant's explanation that 1 April 2018 was the date of transfer under TUPE, and that he had in fact worked at the café since 2015, but said the statutory redundancy scheme did not allow a payment for the earlier years because of his age. The tribunal recorded that he was 21 at the effective date of termination and had at least three complete years' service, which produced the £225 award.