(1) Miss C Howard (2) Mrs L Bushell (3) Miss J Barr v A1 Nursing and Homecare Agency (in Creditors Voluntary Liquidation) — 2020

The respondent was in creditors voluntary liquidation and did not present a response, so the tribunal issued a Rule 21 judgment on the papers. It found that the respondent employed over 20 employees at its head office, no trade union was recognised, and on 28 October 2019 the workforce was told the business was closing and that they were being made redundant immediately. The tribunal found there had been no proper warning or consultation and no elected or appointed employee representatives under section 188A, so the collective consultation duty under sections 188 and 189 of the 1992 Act was breached and a 90-day protective award was made from 28 October 2019 for the first and second claimants.

On wages, the tribunal accepted the periods and figures set out in the claims. The first claimant was entitled to gross wages of £2,476.08 for 29 September 2019 to 27 October 2019 but received £1,799.52, leaving an unlawful deduction of £676.56. The second claimant was entitled to £2,258 and received £1,071, leaving £1,187. The third claimant was entitled to £2,006.76 and received £1,872.40, leaving £134.36. Each of those deductions was found to be unlawful under section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The tribunal also found that the first and second claimants were dismissed by reason of redundancy. Applying section 162 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the 2019 weekly cap of £525, it awarded the first claimant £525 and the second claimant £2,100. The judgment also set out the recoupment notice requirements and the standard interest notice, but it did not state a single aggregated monetary total.