Mr I Mossman v Habeel Tariq — 2020

The claim arose after the claimant's employment in a print shop ended when the business closed without prior notice. The claimant worked from 1 March 2011 to 3 July 2019, went on holiday on 18 June 2019, became seriously ill in Tenerife, and later could not contact Mr Tariq when he returned to Scotland and found the shop closed. The tribunal heard only from the claimant and accepted that no ET3 had been lodged. It found that, although the holiday pay and notice pay claims were presented out of time, it was not reasonably practicable to bring them sooner because the claimant had been told by ACAS that there was a six-month period, had health issues, and had no earlier tribunal experience, so time was extended for those claims.

On the employer issue, the tribunal accepted that ASA Assets & Investments Ltd had been dissolved on 3 April 2018 and could not have been the employer at termination. It found that Mr Tariq was the person acting as employer at the end of the employment. It held that the claimant had eight complete years' service and was entitled to eight weeks' notice or payment in lieu of notice. Because no notice or pay in lieu had been given, the tribunal awarded £969.23 for breach of contract.

The tribunal also held that the closure of the business validly founded a redundancy payment claim. Taking account of the claimant's age, length of service, and the end of the business, it found he was entitled to 12 weeks' redundancy pay, totalling £1,453.85. The holiday pay claim failed on the facts: the holiday year ran from January to December, the claimant had taken holidays on 1 and 2 January, one day at Easter, and 10 days in June, so there was no accrued but untaken leave at termination.

Finally, the tribunal found that no statement of employment particulars had been issued. Applying section 38 of the Employment Act 2002, it made the minimum award of two weeks' pay because there were no exceptional circumstances and it was not persuaded that the higher award would be just and equitable. That award was £242.30. The total ordered to be paid was £2,665.38.