Ms Christine Brown v The Management Committee of — 2023

Respondents did not lodge an ET3 or attend, so the case proceeded undefended. The tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence on the essential facts, found that her employment with Leithland Neighbourhood Centre began on or about 3 July 2006 and ended on 29 September 2022, and held that the centre closed and her post was made redundant. On that basis it awarded a redundancy payment of £7,416 under s.135 and s.139 ERA 1996.

On unfair dismissal, the tribunal found no fair reason for dismissal, no consultation, no redundancy procedure, no effort to find alternative work, and no right of appeal. It calculated a basic award of £7,416 on the claimant's age and 16 years' service, but that award was reduced to nil under s.122(4) ERA 1996 because a redundancy payment was also ordered. The compensatory award was £2,957.27, made up of £2,457.27 for nine weeks' past loss of net earnings between 29 September and 1 December 2022 and £500 for loss of statutory rights. The tribunal recorded Jobseekers' Allowance of £319 and a prescribed element of £2,457.27 for recoupment purposes, and noted that the claimant had no future loss because her new job paid more than her former role.

It also found that the claimant was dismissed in breach of contract as to notice and awarded £819.09, reflecting three weeks' net pay after avoiding double recovery with the unfair dismissal award. The pleaded unlawful deduction from wages claim was not proved to the extent claimed: the reasons discuss uncertainty about the final payslip and the amount allegedly short-paid, and no award was made for the £615 alleged deduction or for any separate sum for 23 to 29 September 2022. On holiday pay, the tribunal used the 2022 annual leave card and a pro-rata calculation to 29 September 2022 to find 41.2 hours untaken leave and awarded £374.92 under Regulation 30 of the Working Time Regulations 1998. The total ordered was £11,567.28.