(sitting alone) Mr C McLaughlin v Mr A Lamont — 2023

Mr C McLaughlin and Mr A Whitty were employed by sole trader Mr A Lamont as engineers. Both employments ended on 12 December 2022 when the claimants resigned without notice. The tribunal found that neither claimant had been given a contract or written statement of employment particulars, and there was no relevant agreement fixing a different leave year. The First Claimant's leave year therefore ran from 1 May to 30 April, and the Second Claimant's from 1 August to 31 July. The respondent's complaints about the claimants' notice, conduct, and competition with his business were held to be irrelevant to the issues before the tribunal.

The tribunal upheld both claims for unpaid wages for the week commencing 5 December 2022. It found that the First Claimant had worked 35 hours at £15.98 per hour and had not been paid, so £559.30 gross was due. It found that the Second Claimant had worked 38 hours at £11 per hour and had not been paid, so £418 gross was due. The tribunal also upheld the Second Claimant's holiday pay claim: the parties agreed that 24 hours of accrued untaken holiday remained outstanding on termination, and £264 gross was payable in lieu.

The First Claimant's claim for payment in lieu of holiday said to have carried over from the 2021/22 leave year was dismissed. Although the tribunal accepted that he had taken and been paid for 188 hours of holiday in that year against an entitlement of 223.22 hours, it found no evidence that coronavirus or sickness prevented him taking leave, and no basis for carry-forward under the Working Time Regulations. The tribunal found that the respondent had recognised the right to paid annual leave and had provided a facility for taking it, even though leave dates were sometimes moved to later dates. No leave carried forward into the final leave year, so nothing remained unpaid on termination.

Because the claimants succeeded in substantive claims and the respondent had failed to provide written statements of employment particulars by the time proceedings began, the tribunal made section 38 Employment Act 2002 awards of two weeks' pay to each claimant. It calculated a capped week's pay for the First Claimant at £571, producing an award of £1,142, and a week's pay for the Second Claimant at £418, producing an award of £836. The tribunal found no exceptional circumstances making the minimum award unjust or inequitable and declined to award four weeks' pay.