In person For the Second Claimant: In person For the v Mrs Tomlin, Director — 2020

The tribunal heard claims by Mr Stephen Black and Mrs Deborah Farrell against Cre8 Futures Limited, with no witness statements filed and the case proceeding on the parties' claim forms, limited documents, and oral evidence. Mr Black complained of unfair dismissal, redundancy payment, and unpaid wages, notice money and holiday pay. Mrs Farrell complained of redundancy payment and unpaid wages, notice money and holiday pay.

Mr Black's unfair dismissal and redundancy payment complaints were dismissed for lack of jurisdiction because he did not have the two years' qualifying service required by the Employment Rights Act 1996. The tribunal accepted the start date given in his claim form, found that his employment ended on 9 July 2019, and held that any work done before the employment relationship was established had been done as a founder, shareholder, director or investor rather than as an employee. The tribunal therefore did not need to resolve the parties' wider allegations about redundancy, exclusion from the premises, or related disputes.

Mrs Farrell was found to have started work on 1 June 2017 and to have had two years' continuous service by the effective date of termination. On that basis, the tribunal held that she was entitled to a redundancy payment and calculated it at £1,038.40 using a weekly wage of £346.13. It noted that she was over 41 throughout her employment, but the award was determined by the statutory redundancy formula rather than any discrimination issue.

Both claimants succeeded on their unlawful deduction claims. The tribunal found that they had been paid up to 30 June 2019, but were owed pay for 1 July 2019, two weeks' notice pay, and accrued holiday pay. It recorded that the school staff were paid pro rata through school holidays and that the respondent should have paid them through to 31 August 2019. The reasons also note that the holiday-pay date reference in paragraph 20 is internally inconsistent, but the monetary calculations are set out expressly: £2,630.75 for Mr Black and £2,630.37 for Mrs Farrell, subject to deductions for income tax and employee National Insurance as appropriate.