Mrs J Makin v Masterpalm Properties — 2019

Judge Warren held that Mrs J Makin was unfairly dismissed by Masterpalm Properties and that her dismissal was also in breach of contract. The effective date of termination was 7 May 2019. The claimant was 54 years old at that date and had 9 complete years' service.

For the unfair dismissal claim, the tribunal calculated a basic award under ERA 1996 s.119 of £2,639.25. It calculated a compensatory award before adjustment of £4,448.28, based on loss of earnings from 3 July 2019 to 25 November 2019, pension contributions of £45.75 and loss of statutory protection of £350, less earnings from new employment and cleaning work. The tribunal then applied a 15% uplift because of procedural failings, including failure to notify the claimant of the allegation, failure to invite her to an investigation meeting, refusal to hold the disciplinary hearing on a date suitable to her union representative, a disciplinary hearing lasting just over 3 minutes, and failure to provide the evidence in advance of the disciplinary and appeal hearings.

Schedule A records the compensatory award as £4,514.65 after the uplift and the total award for unfair dismissal as £7,153.90 on the arithmetic in Schedule A, although paragraph 4 states £7,154.90. The recoupment annex records a total monetary award of £9,104.77, a prescribed element of £4,052.53 for the period 3 July 2019 to 25 November 2019, and a balance of £5,052.24. On the breach of contract claim, the tribunal awarded £1,950.87, being 9 weeks' net pay of £188.49 per week increased by 15%.