EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 4100510/2023 Held at Aberdeen on December 2023 Employment Judge N M Hosie Mrs Mandy Hazel Cruickshank v Represented by, Ms A Neukirch, Solicitor Campbell Connon Solicitors & David Morrison & John Fraser Hendry, The Partners thereof — 2023

Mrs Mandy Hazel Cruickshank commenced work as a legal secretary with Campbell Connon on 3 April 2003. The employment ended on 24 October 2022 when a Judicial Factor’s team attended the Aboyne office, required her to hand over work property and leave, and she was later told that she had been made redundant. The respondent did not lodge an ET3, so the case proceeded undefended. The tribunal found Mrs Cruickshank credible and accepted her evidence and the documentary productions.

The tribunal held that there was a redundancy situation because Campbell Connon had ceased to trade. On the facts found, Mrs Cruickshank was 57 years old and had 19 years’ service, giving her entitlement to 27 weeks’ statutory redundancy pay. Using her weekly pay of £203.08, the tribunal awarded £5,483.16. It also found that she had not been paid salary for October 2022 and awarded £620 as an unlawful deduction from wages under s.23 of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

On holiday pay, the tribunal found that she was contractually entitled to 33 days’ annual leave, had taken 28 days in the relevant holiday year, and had accrued 5 days at the date of dismissal. Using a daily rate of £40.62, it awarded £203.10 under regulation 30(1)(b) of the Working Time Regulations 1998. The tribunal further found that she had been summarily dismissed without notice. Because she had 19 years’ service, she was entitled to 12 weeks’ statutory notice, and the tribunal awarded £2,436.96 in damages for breach of contract, calculated on net pay of £203.08 per week.

The tribunal also found that Mrs Cruickshank had not been provided with a written statement of particulars of employment as required by s.1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Because her successful claims fell within Schedule 5 of the Employment Act 2002, it awarded the statutory minimum amount of two weeks’ pay, being £406.16. The total award was £9,149.38. The tribunal also recorded that the respondent appeared insolvent and that no payments had been made by the Judicial Factor.