Mr William Hall v London Basket Ball Club (UK) Limited — 2019

The claimant was employed as a professional basketball player under a contract signed on 23 August 2017 and starting on 8 September 2017. The tribunal found that the written contract omitted several particulars required by s.1 ERA 1996, including the start date of continuous employment, hours, holiday entitlement and pay, pensions information, and the principal place of work. It also found that the claimant was entitled to monthly net salary of £1,800 and a monthly accommodation allowance of £300.

The tribunal found that the respondent did not pay the claimant his January 2018 salary and accommodation allowance, or the equivalent amounts up to his resignation on 14 February 2018. It held that this was both an unlawful deduction from wages and a breach of contract, and that the non-payment arose from a misapprehension of the law rather than a wilful refusal to pay. Because the respondent failed to deal with the claimant's grievance about the unpaid sums, the tribunal applied a 15% uplift under the ACAS Code and awarded £3,150 for the arrears plus £472.50 uplift, making £3,622.50.

The tribunal also held that the non-payment of wages and benefits was a repudiatory breach that entitled the claimant to resign, so the respondent was liable for constructive wrongful dismissal. It rejected the claimant's submission that damages should run to the end of the season, because clause 24 of the contract allowed termination on 14 days' notice for a serious breach by the club. The tribunal therefore awarded 14 days' compensation of £1,050 plus a 15% uplift of £157.50, making £1,207.50.

Separately, the tribunal found a breach of the duty to provide written particulars and awarded two weeks' pay of £1,050 under s.38 Employment Act 2002. It also found that the claimant was entitled to accrued holiday on termination, pro-rated to reflect an average 20-hour working week, and awarded £581.54 plus a 15% uplift of £87.23, making £668.77. The respondent's counterclaim was dismissed because the tribunal found the respondent itself was in breach of contract. The total award was £6,548.77.