E.T. Z (WR) EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 8000024/2022 Held at Dundee on November 2022 Employment Judge W A Meiklejohn Miss Oliwia Fedczyszyn v Banntech Limited — 2022

The claimant was employed by Banntech Limited from 22 August 2017 and later became Office Manager. She went on maternity leave in March 2021, returned around the beginning of March 2022 on a part-time basis of three days per week, and her salary was pro-rated from £20,000 to £12,000 per year. The tribunal found that she was paid for March and April 2022 but not for May 2022. On 8 June 2022 Mr Cherry emailed that the company had been unsuccessful in securing financing and would be declared insolvent. On 30 June 2022 he told her that the company was insolvent and that no roles existed in Banntech. The tribunal held that this communication terminated her employment on 30 June 2022 without notice.

The statutory redundancy payment claim succeeded because, applying the redundancy provisions of the ERA 1996 and in the absence of any respondent evidence, the tribunal treated the dismissal as by reason of redundancy once it found that no roles remained. The breach of contract claim also succeeded because the claimant had four years' continuous service and was entitled to four weeks' notice, but none was given. The unfair dismissal claim succeeded because the respondent had not shown the reason for dismissal. No basic award was made because a redundancy payment was awarded, but the tribunal made a compensatory award of £520, made up of £270 for missed employer pension contributions between December 2021 and June 2022 and £250 for loss of statutory employment protection rights. The tribunal did not award loss of earnings for the period to 25 July 2022 because that period was covered by the notice pay finding.

The unlawful deduction from wages claim succeeded for unpaid net salary for May and June 2022, totalling £1,873.10. The holiday pay claim succeeded because the claimant had accrued 27.5 days of untaken holiday by termination; the tribunal treated 4.2 days as accruing on the part-time salary rate and 23.3 days on the earlier full-time rate, producing holiday pay of £1,994.32. The direct sex discrimination claim failed. The tribunal accepted that the claimant had been paid less favourably than Mr Watt in May and June 2022, but held that he was a full-time programmer and modern apprentice, whereas the claimant was a part-time Office Manager, and that these differences were material for the comparison under section 23 EqA 2010. Under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002, the tribunal increased the award by two weeks' gross pay, £432.26, because the respondent had not provided an updated statement of changes after the claimant's return from maternity leave.