Mr M Dempster v Stella Brodie t/a Grouchos — 2021

The claimant, Mr M Dempster, worked for Grouchos as a general shop assistant from 6 December 2014 and was paid weekly gross wages of £252. The store closed when the Covid pandemic struck, and on 14 June 2020 the respondent informed a colleague that the claimant and the others were being terminated, with no notice or redundancy payments to be paid. The respondent did not enter a response and did not attend the hearing. The tribunal accepted the claimant and the other witnesses as credible and reliable.

On redundancy, the tribunal found that when the claimant's employment ended the respondent had ceased to operate from the premises where he worked, and that the dismissal was wholly or mainly attributable to the cessation of the business requirements for employees to do that work. Applying the statutory presumption of redundancy in section 163(2) ERA 1996, the tribunal held that the claimant was dismissed by reason of redundancy and was entitled to a statutory redundancy payment. Using a week's pay of £252, five complete years' service, and the claimant's age of 21, the tribunal assessed the redundancy payment at £630.

The tribunal also found that the respondent gave no notice at all, although the claimant was entitled to five weeks' statutory minimum notice under section 86(4) ERA 1996. It accepted that the claimant made reasonable efforts to mitigate his losses but received no replacement income during the five-week period, and awarded £1,260 in damages for breach of contract. In relation to holiday, the tribunal found that the claimant had taken one week of leave in the holiday year and had 4.6 weeks outstanding at termination on 14 June 2020. It awarded £1,159.20 gross for unpaid accrued holiday under regulation 14 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 and section 13 ERA 1996. The total award was £3,049.20 gross of tax and national insurance.