Miss Z. Carty v Razors and Blades Limited — 2023

The tribunal found that the claimant's effective date of termination was 4 August 2020, when she was told that her contract was being terminated. Although the claims were presented outside the ordinary three-month time limits, the tribunal extended time because it found that the claimant did not clearly understand that she had been dismissed, had not been told of her rights, and was affected by the uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. It found that she acted promptly once she became aware of the position in May 2021 and that it was not reasonably practicable for her to bring the claims in time.

On the merits, the tribunal upheld unfair dismissal because the respondent did not prove a fair reason for dismissal. It rejected the redundancy payment claim because it could not find, on the balance of probabilities, that the dismissal was by reason of redundancy. It upheld wrongful dismissal because the claimant was entitled to two weeks' statutory notice, although the judge said no separate contractual notice award could be made. It also upheld the claim for arrears of wages for 23 March 2020 to 4 August 2020 and the holiday pay claim; for wages, the tribunal accepted that the claimant was not paid during that period and calculated pay by reference to hourly rates of £8.21 and £8.72 for a six-hour working week.

The tribunal awarded a basic award of £104.64, a compensatory award for unfair dismissal, an award for loss of statutory rights of £52.32, arrears of wages of £1,005.09, and holiday pay of £331.81, making a total gross award of £2,719.64. The written reasons contain a clerical inconsistency on the compensatory award figure: paragraph 3(c) states £1,255.78, but paragraphs 8 and 43 and the total award are consistent with £1,225.78. The tribunal also recorded that the Employment Protection (Recoupment of Benefits) Regulations 1996 applied to the award under section 123 ERA 1996.