Mr N Gill v Secretary of State for Business & Trade and 1 other — 2025

The claimant sought payment from the National Insurance Fund for redundancy pay, arrears of wages, holiday pay and notice pay after Zenlo Limited entered creditors' voluntary liquidation on 28 March 2024. The Secretary of State disputed that the claimant was an employee of Zenlo Limited within section 230 ERA 1996 and disputed the sums payable if employee status was established.

The tribunal found that, as at the date of insolvency, the claimant was an employee. It accepted that he worked a regular 40-hour, five-day week, carried out operational work as well as leadership duties, was part of the holiday rota, and was subject to some control by the company. The tribunal concluded that the employment relationship existed from 1 April 2011, when Zenlo Limited was incorporated, but found insufficient evidence that he had been an employee before that date.

On calculation, the tribunal rejected the argument that payments should be based on the national minimum wage and also rejected the claimant's proposed final-12-week calculation. It used a weekly pay figure capped at the statutory maximum of £643 and awarded four weeks' arrears of pay, 12 years' redundancy pay at 1.5 weeks per year, 12 weeks' notice pay, and 3.134 weeks' accrued holiday pay, giving a total gross award of £23,877.16.