Mr Gary Taylor v Armadilla Accommodation Ltd — 2026

This was a preliminary hearing before Employment Judge McFatridge sitting alone by CVP. The claimant brought claims of unfair dismissal, a redundancy payment, a protective award and unlawful deduction of wages. The respondent's representative invited the tribunal to strike out the first three claims under Rule 38 of the Employment Tribunal Rules 2024 on the basis that they had no reasonable prospect of success, and the judge dealt with the applications at the hearing after giving the claimant the opportunity to make representations.

The tribunal found that the claimant accepted he had less than two years' qualifying service. Section 94 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 does not apply in those circumstances by virtue of section 108, and the judge considered the exceptions but concluded that the claimant had raised health and safety matters as a long-standing employee rather than as an official health and safety representative, so no exception applied. The tribunal therefore had no jurisdiction to hear the unfair dismissal claim, and the redundancy payment claim was also struck out as having no reasonable prospect of success.

On the protective award claim, the tribunal accepted the claimant's point that ACAS guidelines suggest consultation is appropriate in every redundancy case, but held that the statutory right under sections 188 and 188A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 only arises where 20 or more employees are proposed to be dismissed at one establishment within 90 days, which was not the position here. That claim was therefore struck out. The remaining claim of unlawful deduction of wages, concerning an asserted pay rise from £14 to £15 per hour and unpaid travel time, was directed to proceed to a hearing on a date to be fixed.