Matthew Dorrough v Asme Engineering Ltd — 2021

Matthew Dorrough was employed by Asme Engineering Ltd as a project manager and was furloughed from 30 March 2020. The tribunal found that, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the respondent's need for project-management work had diminished significantly and that the directors decided to close the claimant's department after taking other cost-cutting measures. The unfair dismissal claim was dismissed because the tribunal found redundancy was the reason for dismissal, the consultation process was fair, and there was no realistic alternative role for the claimant at the time.

On the notice-period pay claim, the tribunal held that the furlough agreement in the letter of 31 March 2020 amended the contract by agreement so that the claimant was entitled to the furlough rate of £2,500 per month while furloughed, including during his notice period. It also held that the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Coronavirus, Calculation of a Week's Pay) Regulations 2020 did not apply because the claimant's contractual notice period was one month, which was more than one week longer than his statutory notice period. The claim for an unauthorised deduction from wages was therefore dismissed.

The holiday pay and redundancy pay claims were withdrawn. Holiday pay was withdrawn after the respondent identified top-up payments that brought the relevant bank holiday and accrued holiday days up to the contractual rate, and redundancy pay was withdrawn after it was agreed that the redundancy payment had been made in the correct amount. The respondent conceded liability for unpaid overtime in 2019 and for one unpaid day identified as an unpaid-absence deduction on the 31 March 2020 payslip, and the tribunal awarded the agreed gross sums of £348.55 and £192.31 respectively.

The claimant also succeeded on the claim that the respondent had failed to provide written particulars of the change in salary and role around January 2020. The tribunal rejected the respondent's argument that payslips were enough to satisfy that duty, found a breach of the statutory obligation to provide updated particulars, and made an additional award under s.38 Employment Act 2002. Because the weekly rate exceeded the statutory cap, the award was £1,088, being two weeks at the capped rate of £544 per week.