Mrs A Patrick v Taphon Limited — 2020

Mrs A Patrick worked for Taphon Limited as a Sales Administrator from 22 July 1997 and later worked part time for 15 hours per week on gross monthly pay of £538. She said she last worked on 31 July 2018 and then repeatedly chased the respondent for her July wages, notice pay, redundancy pay and holiday pay. The respondent did not attend the hearing and did not file a response, and the tribunal accepted the claimant's oral evidence and documents.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant continued to treat herself as employed while the respondent told her that an administrator was being appointed and that matters were being resolved. It found that the effective date of termination was 8 June 2019, when she treated herself as dismissed by reason of redundancy, and that her claim form was presented within three months of that date. On the facts accepted by the tribunal, the employer's need for her role as Sales Administrator at its Essex premises had ceased or diminished, so the dismissal was by reason of redundancy.

The tribunal awarded £538 gross (£441.17 net) for unpaid wages for July 2018, £1,614 gross (£1,323.51 net) for 12 weeks' pay in lieu of notice, £3,220 redundancy pay, and £20 net for half a day's holiday pay owed on termination. No separate unfair dismissal or discrimination finding is recorded in the judgment, and the award was confined to the monetary heads set out above.