Mr R McCormack v Represented by: Himself Handmade Stairs Ltd — 2020

The claimant worked as a stair joiner for more than two years. The tribunal found that when the respondent purchased the website and machinery of Handmade Stairs (Scotland) Limited, the claimant's employment transferred without interruption, so his service was continuous. He was summarily dismissed on 5 November 2019 without warning or procedure and had only been paid one week's pay in lieu of notice.

On notice pay, the tribunal held that he had 2 complete years' service and was entitled to 2 weeks' statutory notice under section 86 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Because he had already received only one week's pay, the respondent had to pay a further gross week's notice pay of £440.

On unfair dismissal, the tribunal found that no fair reason had been shown and no fair procedure had been followed. It accepted that the respondent referred to workload, workmanship and cash flow, but said there was no basis for dismissing the claimant on 5 November 2019 rather than taking some lesser step. It awarded a basic award of £880 and a compensatory award of £12,458.64, made up of 32 weeks' net pay (£11,568.64), £300 for loss of statutory rights and £880 under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002 for the absence of a written statement of particulars, less £290 earned in mitigation. The Employment Protection (Recoupment of Jobseeker's Allowance and Income Support) Regulations 1996 applied, with a prescribed element of £11,568.64 for the period 19 November 2019 to 15 July 2020 and a balance of £1,770.

On the pension deduction point, the tribunal found that deductions had been authorised for pension purposes but were not remitted to the pension provider. It held that the deduction was not unlawful because it had been authorised, and said the claimant's remedy lay with the statutory regulator. Any remaining claims were dismissed as ill founded.