Bharat Sachdev Respondent Stephen M S Lai & Co Business Consulting Ltd v Respondent — 2020

At the Reading CVP hearing on 4 January 2023, before Employment Judge Street, the Respondent did not attend and filed no response. The tribunal held that the Claimant had been unfairly dismissed and that he had been harassed by the Respondent in a way related to his age, which the judgment treated as age discrimination. The tribunal also allowed two breach of contract heads: holiday pay and expenses incurred.

For unfair dismissal, the tribunal awarded a basic award of £2,284.61 and a compensatory award capped at £26,400. The reasons section records loss of earnings calculations for the prescribed period from 19 September 2021 to 4 January 2023, including a prescribed element of £13,063.13 and a balance after the prescribed element of £17,136.71. Recoupment applies.

For age discrimination, the tribunal awarded £2,000 for injury to feelings plus £447.65 interest, giving £2,447.65 inclusive of interest. The breach of contract awards were £3,045.90 for holiday pay (30 days) and £26.00 for expenses. The claims for notice pay, unlawful deduction from earnings and a redundancy payment were dismissed, the claimant was not permitted to amend the claim to include the matters set out in the letter of 22 August 2022, and the total sum ordered was £34,204.16.