Mr R Ross, Counsel For the v Mr A Williams, Legal Representative — 2023

The Claimant was employed as a part-time accountant and company secretary from 1 July 2020 until 7 November 2023, when she was dismissed on stated grounds of redundancy following the resignation of an assistant accountant (MU) and the Respondent's stated decision to outsource its accountancy function. The tribunal was not satisfied that redundancy was the true reason for dismissal, noting in particular that MU was re-engaged on a full-time contract as Company Administrator from 1 November 2023 at a salary of GBP 40,000 and continued to do some accountancy work, and that the outsourced accountancy fee was only GBP 235 per month. The tribunal added that even if the dismissal had been by reason of redundancy, it would still have been unfair because the consultation proceeded on a basis the Respondent knew to be false and no proper effort was made to find suitable alternative employment.

On unlawful deduction of wages, the tribunal found that the GBP 5,000 bonus declared by the owner in June 2023 had been quantified and deferred, and so had become a wage properly payable under s.13 ERA 1996; applying Farrell Matthews & Weir v Hansen and Tradition Securities and Futures SA v Mouradian, the Respondent's purported retraction on 29 October 2023 amounted to an unlawful deduction. The claim under s.1 ERA 1996 for failure to provide a statement of employment particulars was not contested on the facts, and the tribunal awarded the higher 4-week uplift under s.38 Employment Act 2002.

On remedy for unfair dismissal, no basic award was made because a statutory redundancy payment had already been paid. The tribunal broadly accepted the Respondent's submissions on mitigation and limited the compensatory award to 26 weeks of net pay (GBP 276.92 x 26) plus GBP 400 for loss of statutory rights, giving GBP 7,599.92. The total monetary award was GBP 13,707.60.