Second Claimant: Mr J Newton Mr M Hosford First v AIS Vanguard Limited Second Respondent — 2021

Mr Newton and Mr Hosford each brought breach of contract claims after being made redundant on 22 October 2020, saying they should have received enhanced redundancy payments under a collective agreement. The claims against the second respondent were dismissed upon withdrawal by the claimants at the final hearing on 9 August 2021.

The only live issue was whether the Collective Agreement had been incorporated into the claimants' contracts of employment. The tribunal found, on the balance of probabilities, that it was not. It accepted that the Collective Agreement had been entered into by Pickfords Removals Limited (incorporating Pickfords Industrial), but found the claimants had worked for Pickfords Engineering Services and later Vanguard Industrial Limited, and that their contracts made no reference to Pickfords Industrial or to any collective agreement.

The tribunal also found that the claimants and Mr Hemstock were not able to give clear evidence that Pickfords Engineering Services fell within the Pickfords Industrial "banner", and that the evidence was too vague and inconsistent to prove incorporation. By contrast, it found it more probable than not that the Vanguard terms and conditions applied, including because the December 2002 correspondence likely enclosed those terms and the holiday pay and sick pay arrangements were consistent with them.

The tribunal therefore held that the claimants had no contractual entitlement to enhanced redundancy payments and dismissed the breach of contract claims against the first respondent. No monetary award was made.