THE INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNALS 

CASE REF:	2119/02 & Others
(See attached list)

APPLICANTS:	Simpson & Others
			(See attached list)

RESPONDENTS:	1.	Samuel Lyle
2.	Sandel Building Co Ltd (in liquidation)
3.	Department of Employment & Learning

DECISION

The unanimous decision of the tribunal is that the applications be dismissed.

Appearances:
The applicants did not attend and were not represented.
The first and second respondents did not appear and were not represented.
The third respondent was represented by Ms P Baird and Ms S Lennox of Redundancy Payments Service.

Summary Reasons
1.	Although there was no appearance by or on behalf of the applicants a letter and submission dated 15 July 2004 had been sent in by their representative.  That letter indicated that the applicants claims for redundancy payments, notice pay and outstanding wages had all been met and that the only outstanding issues were those of unfair dismissal and holiday pay.

2.	The tribunal was satisfied, on the basis of the papers, that the applicants were dismissed by reason of redundancy, as, indeed, the applicants themselves indicated both in their forms of application and by their acceptance of their redundancy payments from the third respondent.

Redundancy is one of the reasons mentioned in Article 130(2) in relation to the fairness or unfairness of the dismissal.  The fact that all employees were dismissed at the same time indicates to the tribunal that it was reasonable to treat it as a sufficient reason for dismissal in each case.  No further question of unfair dismissal arises.

3.	As regards the applicants’ claim for holiday pay there was insufficient evidence to enable the tribunal to determine what the arrangements about holiday pay were, how many days each applicant was entitled to, or how many days each applicant had actually taken.  Consequently no determination of the amount, if any, to which an applicant might be entitled could be made and the applications fail.

The tribunal noted, in passing, that the legislation refers to the Department making payments in respect of holiday pay “to which the employee had become entitled during the twelve months ending with the appropriate date”.  The “appropriate date” is the date of liquidation of the company, which in this case was apparently 16 May 2003.  The qualifying period therefore commenced on 17 May 2002.  Holiday pay rights are related to periods worked.  It would seem that, in this case, the applicants’ rights to holiday pay, if any, can only have accrued between 17 May 2002 (the commencement of the relevant period) and 26 August 2002 when the dismissals took place, a period of some three and a half months.  It may be that the holiday rights accrued during that period may have been satisfied by the July holidays which would appear, according to the applicants’ representative’s letter of 13 July 2004, to have been taken by the applicants.

Chairman:

Date and place of hearing:	5 August 2004, Belfast.

Date decision recorded in register and issued to parties:

Case to be known as:

RE: Simpson & Others –v- 	1. Samuel Lyle
				2. Sandel Building Co Ltd (in liquidation)
				3. Department of Employment & Learning	

CASE REF NOS: 2119/02 & Others

APPLICANT  		CRN		RESPONDENT			REPRESENTATIVE

1. Mr Harold Simpson	2119/02 	1. Samuel Lyle			Eamon O’Neill						2. Sandel Building Co Ltd 
						(in liquidation)
						3. Department of Employment 
& Learning

2. Mr David Dallas		2120/02	1. Sandel Building Co Ltd		Eamon O’Neill
						(in liquidation)
						2. Department of Employment 
& Learning

3. Mr Derek Espie		115/03		1. Sandel Building Co Ltd		Eamon O’Neill
						(in liquidation)
						2. Department of Employment 
& Learning

4. Mr Jeremy Robinson 	295/03		1. Sandel Building Co Ltd		Eamon O’Neill
						(in liquidation)
						2. Department of Employment 
& Learning

5. Mr Kieran O’Neill		236/03		1. Samuel Lyle			Eamon O’Neill
						2. Department of Employment 
& Learning

6. Mr Peter John Murray	237/03		1. Samuel Lyle			Eamon O’Neill
						2. Department of Employment 
& Learning
		
7. Mr Thomas James Laird	260/03		1. Samuel Lyle			Eamon O’Neill
Simpson					2. Department of Employment 
& Learning

APPLICANT  		CRN		RESPONDENT			REPRESENTATIVE

8. Mr Thomas William	310/02		1. Sandel Building Co Ltd		Gerry Hagan
Hutchinson					(in liquidation)
						2. Department of Employment 
& Learning

9. Harold Alexander		433/03		1. Samuel Lyle			Gerry Hagan 
Benson					2. Department of Employment 
& Learning