In person For the First v Respondent — 2023

The case was heard by Employment Judge Alliott sitting alone on 9 January 2023. The First Respondent had entered voluntary liquidation and the liquidator did not participate. The tribunal also recorded that the Secretary of State had likely been made a party in error, and the claim against the Second Respondent was dismissed.

On the claimant's evidence, the tribunal found that he was not paid his salary for July and August 2021 and that there was no agreement that those months would be unpaid. It therefore upheld the claim for unauthorised deduction of wages and awarded £16,666.66 gross. The tribunal also found that an expenses claim for £911.42 had not been paid and that the claimant was contractually entitled to reimbursement, so that breach of contract claim succeeded.

For the termination claim, the tribunal rejected the suggestion that issues about the transfer of the claimant's equity in the company to the chairman, in order to secure a chairman's loan, amounted to fundamental breaches. It did find that non-payment of salary in July and August 2021, and uncertainty about whether September would be paid, were fundamental breaches of contract entitling the claimant to resign with immediate effect on 31 August 2021. The claimant had obtained comparable employment in January 2022, so the tribunal limited loss to four months and awarded £20,190.68 net damages for wrongful dismissal / breach of contract.

The tribunal further found that the claimant had an annual holiday entitlement of 27 days plus statutory bank holidays, with 3 carried-over days entering 2021. Applying the holiday year and bank holiday calculation set out in the reasons, it concluded that 20 days' accrued holiday remained untaken at termination. That yielded a gross holiday pay award of £7,692.31. The total amount awarded against the First Respondent was £45,461.07.