Mr L Adach v Just 3 Architectural Aluminium Ltd (in voluntary liquidation) — 2024

The claimant, an estimator employed from 2 September 2019 to 23 May 2024, brought claims after the respondent failed to file an ET3 and did not attend the final hearing. The tribunal proceeded under rules 21 and 47, accepted the claimant's documentary evidence and oral evidence, and found that the respondent had not paid wages from 1 April 2024 onwards. It also accepted that the office had been closed and emptied in late April 2024, that the claimant had tried repeatedly to obtain payment and to raise a grievance, and that he resigned on 23 May 2024 in response to the non-payment of wages.

On the constructive unfair dismissal claim, the tribunal found that the failure to pay wages was a fundamental breach of contract, that the claimant resigned in response to that breach, and that he had not delayed too long before resigning. The claim succeeded. The tribunal awarded a basic award only, calculating it by reference to four years' service and the statutory weekly pay cap of £700, which produced a basic award of £2,800. The claimant did not seek a compensatory award because he obtained new employment on 28 May 2024.

The tribunal also upheld the unlawful deduction from wages claim for unpaid salary between 1 April 2024 and 23 May 2024, awarding £7,307.70 gross, and upheld the holiday pay claim, awarding £2,211.56 gross for 11.5 days of accrued but untaken leave. The separate breach of contract claim for notice pay failed because the claimant resigned without notice and did not seek notice pay in his resignation letter.

The tribunal found that the respondent had unreasonably failed to engage with the claimant's grievance and the attempts to resolve the pay dispute, and it increased the awards by 25% under the ACAS Code of Practice, producing an uplift of £3,079.82. The total sum ordered was £15,399.08. The judgment also recorded that the respondent was later shown as being in voluntary liquidation and noted that any amounts not recovered from the National Insurance Fund remained due from the respondent.