Ms C Duncan v O’Connors Contracts Ltd (in voluntary liquidation) — 2025

The claimant, an apprentice employed between 9 January 2023 and 8 September 2023, brought a breach of contract claim arising from the termination of his employment 'due to market conditions'. He had been paid three weeks' notice pay, whereas clause 60 of his contract required the greater of four weeks and any statutory minimum. The respondent, in voluntary liquidation, did not submit a response, and the claimant requested determination on the papers.

Employment Judge Hart found that clause 59 (termination without notice for breach or just cause) did not apply because the respondent had not terminated without notice. The judge accepted that the respondent was in breach of clause 60 by providing only three weeks' notice instead of the contractual four weeks, entitling the claimant to one further week's notice pay of £423.07. The judge also accepted that loss of employer pension contributions during the notice period was a consequential loss, calculated at £9.09 per week (£39.40 per month per the payslips, rather than the £52.54 in the schedule of loss which reflected the employee contribution), giving £36.37 for four weeks.

The tribunal ordered the respondent to pay the claimant a total of £459.44 net.