Mr William Hastie v Kirkland Refrigeration Limited — 2024

The tribunal, sitting in Glasgow before Employment Judge B Campbell on 29 and 30 January 2024, held that Mr William Hastie had been unfairly dismissed by Kirkland Refrigeration Limited. He began work on 1 January 2021, was dismissed on 6 June 2023, was aged 29 at dismissal, worked 40 hours per week at £16 per hour, and had completed two years' service. The basic award was calculated using the statutory weekly pay cap of £643.

For compensation, the tribunal found that the relevant loss period ran from 4 July 2023 to 13 August 2023, the day before Mr Hastie started work for a new employer in a role that was at least as well paid. His net weekly pay was found to be £511. The tribunal reduced the basic and compensatory awards by 25% for contributory conduct, then increased them by 10% because the respondent had not followed the ACAS Code in disciplinary and grievance procedures. That produced a basic award of £1,056 and a compensatory award of £2,409, with the notice-pay period treated separately so that the claimant was not compensated twice.

The tribunal also upheld claims for unpaid wages, accrued annual leave, additional holiday pay, and notice pay. It found that £1,840.20 net was due for unpaid work since the payslip dated 19 May 2023, including 120 hours plus 16 overtime hours at £24. It awarded £614.40 for six days of accrued annual leave and £1,665.60 for holiday pay on overtime between 1 January 2022 and 6 June 2023, with no reduction or uplift applied to those holiday figures. It also awarded £2,248.40 as damages for four weeks' notice, calculated from a net equivalent of £2,044 and uplifted by 10%, with no contributory reduction applied to that head of loss. The total award ordered was £9,833.60.