Mr James Smith v Timber Trade Products Limited — 2022

Mr James Smith's claims for unfair dismissal and breach of contract against Timber Trade Products Limited were determined on the papers under Rule 21 because the respondent failed to present a valid response on time. The judge took account of the ET1, the initial schedule of loss, and Mr Smith's further information. The hearing listed for 19 September 2022 was cancelled.

On unfair dismissal, the tribunal found that Mr Smith had been unfairly dismissed and that he was entitled to a basic award of £2,119.50, calculated from a gross weekly pay of £471, a net weekly pay of £381.46, age 58, and 3 completed years of service. It also made a notional award of £400 for loss of accrued employment rights, allowed past loss of £1,506.26 and future loss of £513.12 after taking mitigation and later employment into account, and applied a 15% uplift under s.207A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 because the ACAS Code applied and there were obvious breaches of it. The unfair dismissal award was £5,219.71.

On breach of contract, the tribunal held that Mr Smith was dismissed in breach of contract because he was entitled to 3 weeks' notice. It assessed damages at £521.04 for the net loss during the notional notice period after crediting mitigation, then applied the same 15% uplift to reach £599.20. The tribunal said the claimant had taken reasonable steps to mitigate his losses, that the early loss period overlapped with the notice-period damages, and that the recoupment provisions did not apply.