ETZ 4(WR) EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 4105153/2022 Hearing by Cloud Video Platform (CVP) at Edinburgh on November 2022 Employment Judge: M A Macleod M Smith v Aspirational Brands Limited — 2022

The claimant brought a claim on 16 September 2022 saying she had been unlawfully deprived of notice pay, accrued holiday pay, and pension contributions. The tribunal found that she had started work as a supervisor on 21 September 2021, that her contract named Aspirational Brands Ltd (Alphadean Ltd trading as Handmade Burger Co), and that her notice period after probation was one month. Her employment ended on 26 July 2022 when staff were told the restaurant was closing and that they would be dismissed without notice.

The claimant was given a letter which stated that she was not entitled to a redundancy payment but that her notice pay was £1,311.63 and her accrued holiday pay was £171.63. She agreed those figures. The tribunal recorded that she was not paid on 15 August 2022, was later told she would be paid on 31 August 2022, and still had not received any payment by the hearing date.

Mr Prince accepted that the claimant was due the sums claimed and that one month was the correct notice period, but argued that the claimant had been employed by The Handmade Burger Company rather than the respondent, and that Aspirational Brands Limited was not a trading entity and had no assets. The Employment Judge said the claim was valid and that the claimant should succeed, but was not satisfied that an award should be made against the respondent at that stage. The judge ordered the respondent to provide full details of The Handmade Burger Company so that it could be sisted as second respondent before a final judgment was issued. The reasons do not make separate findings on the pension contributions mentioned in the claim form.