E.T. Z (WR) EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS (SCOTLAND) Case No: 8001079/2024 (V)5 Held on October 2024 Employment Judge J M Hendry P MacFadyen v Rd Resource Limited — 2024

Mr MacFadyen worked for 3rd Resource Ltd as an IRM Rope Access Technician from 30 March 2024 to 14 May 2024. He resigned on 7 May 2024 giving four weeks' notice under the contract. At the CVP hearing on 15 October 2024, Employment Judge J M Hendry heard evidence from the claimant and from Mr Ritchie, a director of the respondent, and found both generally credible and reliable.

The tribunal held that clause 13.2 of the contract required the employee to give four weeks' written notice and did not allow the employer to end the contract earlier. On that basis, the claimant was entitled to the remaining three weeks of notice pay, as one week had already been paid. The respondent accepted at the hearing that it would pay that balance, and the judgment records that the claim was later dismissed after payment was made, subject to deductions of PAYE and National Insurance.

The tribunal also held that clause 8 allowed the respondent to deduct the Rope Access course costs from the claimant's final wages because he resigned within six months of the course. It accepted Mr Ritchie's evidence that the course was not required in the same way as an offshore survival course, that it gave the claimant added flexibility and skills, and that the clause was not a penalty clause. The tribunal rejected the claimant's reliance on section 9 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

On the MST certification item, the judgment states that the respondent had made an unlawful deduction of £80, but that the sum had since been paid to the claimant, so that part of the claim was dismissed. The tribunal noted that any dispute about tax deducted from the payments was a matter for HMRC. No tribunal award was made.