Mrs S McGerty v Track Force Recruitment Limited — 2022

The respondent did not present a valid response in time, so the Employment Judge made a rule 21 determination on the parts of the claim set out in the judgment. The tribunal found that the respondent had made unauthorised deductions from the claimant's wages and ordered payment of £923.04 gross for 1 to 11 May 2022.

The tribunal also held that the claimant was dismissed by reason of redundancy and was entitled to a redundancy payment. In reaching that conclusion, it found that AlphaPay Payroll Limited and the respondent were associated companies within section 231(b) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 because both were under the control of Philip Ronnie McKinnell, and that the claimant could count her prior service with AlphaPay Payroll Limited as continuous service. In the alternative, the tribunal found there had been a relevant TUPE transfer on or about 1 May 2020. It treated the claimant as having 4 complete years of service, all after age 40, and awarded £3,426.00 calculated at 1.5 weeks' pay for each complete year.

On notice, the tribunal found that the claimant was dismissed in breach of contract. It held that, by reason of the TUPE transfers referred to in the judgment, the statutory minimum notice entitlement was 4 weeks. Using the gross weekly pay figure of £576.92 and allowing for mitigation after the claimant obtained alternative employment after 7 working days of the notice period, it awarded £807.66 gross damages.

The tribunal further found that the respondent had failed to pay the claimant's holiday entitlement and awarded £692.28 gross for 6 days. The judgment records total awards of £923.04 for arrears of wages, £3,426.00 for redundancy payment, £807.66 for notice pay, and £692.28 for holiday pay, giving a total of £5,848.98.