Mr A Smith v Alan Warwick T/A All Counties Electrical AT A FINAL HEARING Heard: Remotely by CVP (Nottingham) — 2023

On 20 January 2023, Employment Judge Clark sitting alone heard the case remotely. Mr Smith did not attend, and Mr Warwick attended in person. The tribunal accepted that Mr Warwick was the claimant's employer personally, trading as All Counties Electrical, and amended the title of proceedings accordingly. It also accepted that the employment ended on 27 June 2022 by reason of redundancy and that the claim was presented on 30 September 2022 while the underlying sums were still outstanding.

The tribunal declared that Mr Smith was entitled to a statutory redundancy payment of £4,500 and to an unlawful deduction from wages in the net sum of £1,582.68. It accepted evidence that Mr Warwick later paid £4,500 and paid the outstanding wages on 28 October 2022, so no further sums were payable on either claim. The tribunal rejected the suggestion that Mr Warwick had refused to engage or that the claimant could not make contact with him.

The tribunal said it could have dismissed the claims under rule 47 because of the claimant's non-attendance, but it chose to determine the matter on the merits because the claim was properly brought when issued. It found, however, that the claim or its conduct became unreasonable from 28 October 2022, after payment had been made, because neither Mr Smith nor his representative engaged with the tribunal's subsequent correspondence. Applying rule 79 and rule 75(2), the tribunal awarded the respondent £168 for 4 hours of preparation time at £42 per hour.