Mr Dean Smith v Business Solutions for Companies Limited — 2025

The claimant, Mr Dean Smith, brought claims for a redundancy payment, unpaid wages for one month, and six months' contractual notice pay, said in the reasons to total £58,384.70. The respondent did not attend, but the Tribunal still required the claims to be proved. It accepted that a redundancy award would only be payable if the claimant established employee status and two years' service, and it considered the evidence against that standard.

On the redundancy issue, the Tribunal found the claimant had not shown on the balance of probabilities that he had been an employee of the respondent from February 2021 to December 2023. It was concerned about the authenticity of the contract of employment and the payslips, noted the absence of bank statements for 2021 to 2023 and limited HMRC material, and held that the claimant had not proved the service needed for a redundancy payment. That claim was dismissed for want of jurisdiction.

The contractual notice claim also failed. The Tribunal did not accept the claimant's six-month notice case and said it was not satisfied as to the authenticity and reliability of the contract said to confer that entitlement. By contrast, it accepted that from January 2024 the claimant had worked regularly for the respondent and was at least a worker for that period within s230(3) Employment Rights Act 1996. On that footing, and relying on bank statements and WhatsApp messages, it found that wages for August 2024 had not been paid.

The Tribunal awarded the claimant £7,333.33 for the unpaid wages claim, subject to deductions for tax and National Insurance. The attached interest notice states that interest would be payable if the sum is not paid within 14 days of the written decision, at the stipulated rate of 8% per annum from 23 October 2025.