Mr Martin Reeves v The Committee of Garswood and Simms Road Labour Club t/a Garswood Sports and Social Club — 2019

The tribunal proceeded with the final hearing in the respondent’s absence after considering an early-morning email from the club secretary and deciding not to postpone under rule 30A. It proceeded under rule 47, having considered the available information about the absence and the earlier postponement, and heard short oral evidence from Mr Martin Reeves. The respondent’s title was amended to “The Committee of Garswood and Simms Road Labour Club t/a Garswood Sports and Social Club”.

On the facts, Mr Reeves had been employed as bar staff since January 2009, working 4.5 hours per week. The tribunal found that the club’s change of name in March 2019 did not end his employment. It accepted that a statutory statement of employment particulars had been prepared in 2009, but Mr Reeves had not been given a copy and no fresh statement had been issued when the club changed its name. The tribunal also found that, in September 2019, he was dismissed by telephone without notice and without any procedure being followed.

The tribunal held that the dismissal was unfair contrary to section 98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. It also held that the claimant was wrongfully dismissed in breach of contract because he was dismissed without lawful excuse, without notice or payment in lieu of notice, and had not committed gross breach of contract. In addition, it found that 3.77 days of accrued holiday pay remained unpaid, and that the claimant was entitled to compensation for the non-provision and non-revision of a statutory statement of employment particulars. The tribunal said the claimant was entitled to an uplift, where appropriate, to reflect failure to follow the Acas code under section 207A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

The award was calculated at £2,482.21 in total. This comprised a basic award of £277.13 for unfair dismissal, a compensatory award of £1,456.38 for unfair dismissal, £461.88 for wrongful dismissal, £139.02 for holiday pay, and £147.80 for failure to provide the statutory statement of employment particulars. The judgment also contained the standard notice about interest under the Employment Tribunals (Interest) Order 1990, but it did not quantify any separate interest sum in the award.