Miss G Coffey v Umbroker — 2022

Miss Coffey presented her claim on 28 January 2022 and said she had been employed by Umbroker from 1 November 2021 until 1 January 2022. The claim form referred to unfair dismissal, redundancy payment, unpaid wages, and non-payment of notice. On 16 March 2022 the tribunal issued a strike-out warning on the unfair dismissal complaint and noted that redundancy pay normally requires two years' continuous employment, but that this did not affect the complaints about notice pay and unpaid wages.

A hearing was listed for 18 August 2022. Neither party attended or attempted to join the telephone hearing. The tribunal clerk later contacted the Claimant, who said she no longer wished to pursue the claim. The tribunal also noted that the communications had been sent to the email and postal addresses provided and that it had not received any further material from either side after the claim form.

Applying Rule 47 of the Employment Tribunal Rules 2013, and having regard to Roberts v Skelmersdale College [2004] IRLR 69, the Employment Judge considered the available information, the absence of evidence, the Claimant's failure to engage, and the fact that dismissal under Rule 47 is a severe sanction. The judge decided not to adjourn or make further case management orders and dismissed the claim under Rule 47 because the Claimant had not attended and was not represented at the hearing.