Mr T P McEvilly (1) Mr M Quinn (2) Mr A Lucass (3) v McLaughlin Contractors Ltd and 1 other — 2023

The tribunal heard three linked claims brought by Mr T P McEvilly, Mr M Quinn and Mr A Lucass. It found that they were employees of McLaughlin Contractors Limited and that their employment ended on 22 July 2022 after the death of the sole director, Mr Robert Alexander McLaughlin, when the business ceased to operate. The second claimant did not attend the final hearing and had not engaged with the proceedings.

The main issue was whether the claimants had agreed to leave and take alternative work with a contractor known as Fargo. The tribunal accepted that Mr McLaughlin had discussed trying to secure alternative employment before his death, but it did not accept that the first and third claimants had agreed to resign or that any alternative arrangement had been put in place. It found that the employment ended because the need for their work ceased, and that this was a redundancy situation with no suitable alternative vacancies offered.

Applying the redundancy provisions of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the tribunal held that the first claimant had 15 years' service and was entitled to £10,191 redundancy pay. It also awarded him £5,688 gross notice pay on his breach of contract claim, making £15,879 in total. The third claimant had 21 completed years' service and succeeded on his redundancy pay claim for £16,166. The second claimant's claim was dismissed for failure to pursue it, the claims against the second respondent were dismissed because it was not the employer at the material time, and the proposed amendments to add claims about written particulars and written pay statements were withdrawn and dismissed.