Mr K Gilbert v Represented by: Mr M Lynch, Solicitor Fraser Haulage Ltd — 2021

The claimant was employed by Fraser Haulage Ltd from around 20 January 2018 on a gross weekly wage of £435.46. In May 2020 the respondent's workload was materially affected by the Covid-19 restrictions, the claimant and another driver were placed on furlough, and the respondent later wrote on 5 August 2020 saying that employment was ending because of a significant downturn in work and there was no suitable alternative work. The claimant appealed, but the tribunal found the appeal letter was not received and no appeal hearing took place.

The tribunal found that a redundancy situation existed. It accepted that work had reduced, that only 16 of 18 trucks were being used, that vehicles were parked in the yard, and that the number of drivers had not increased again. However, there had been no consultation, so the dismissal was procedurally unfair. The tribunal therefore awarded a redundancy payment/basic award of £1,306.38, but no compensatory award was made because no such award was being pursued and there was no evidence of mitigation or benefits.

On the money claims, the tribunal accepted that the claimant was entitled to 30 days' annual leave inclusive of statutory holidays, that he had taken six days and had 13 days outstanding at termination, and it awarded £1,132.17 holiday pay. It also held that the claimant was entitled to 3 days' wages as damages for notice, amounting to £261.27, because the notice was not received until 8 August 2020. The awards for holiday pay and notice pay were calculated gross, and any tax liability was left with the claimant. The tribunal rejected the alleged 'lying time' payment and found no unnecessary deduction of wages.