THE INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNALS

CASE REF:	7230/09

CLAIMANT:			Maurice Anthony Clarkson

RESPONDENTS:		1.	KOB Ltd
				2.	Department for Employment & Learning 

DECISION
The decision of the tribunal is that:-

(a)	the claimant is entitled to a redundancy payment in the sum of £10,500;

(b)	the claimant is entitled to holiday pay of £569.70; and

(c)	the claimant is entitled to notice pay of £4,043.20.

Constitution of Tribunal:
Chairman (sitting alone):		Mr P Kinney

Appearances:
The claimant appeared in person and represented himself.
The first-named respondent did not appear and was not represented.
The second-named respondent was represented by Mrs Baird of DEL.

Facts

1.	The claimant is 64 years of age.  He was employed by the first-named respondent, KOB Ltd, from 28 February 1983 to 22 May 2009 when he was dismissed with immediate effect because of the financial difficulties faced by the first-named respondent.  The first-named respondent has ceased trading, but has not been made insolvent within the terms of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.

2.	At the date of dismissal the claimant’s gross weekly wage was £535 and his net wage £379.80.

3.	The claimant makes claims for redundancy pay, holiday pay and notice pay.  He is owed 71/2 days holiday pay.  He received Jobseeker’s Allowance of £64.30 per week and did not receive any benefit for the four weeks in June and July when he was out of the country.  He did not obtain new work in the notice period.  

4.	After hearing the evidence of the claimant, I am satisfied his claims are               well-founded.  I make the following awards.

Redundancy pay

5.	The claimant is entitled to 30 weeks redundancy pay based on his gross weekly wage.  However, entitlement to a redundancy payment is subject to a statutory maximum on the amount of weeks pay, which at the relevant time was £350.  The claimant is therefore entitled to £10,500.

Holiday pay

6.	The claimant is entitled to 71/2 days holiday pay.  This is based on his net weekly wage.  The claimant is therefore entitled to £569.70 in respect of holiday pay.

Notice pay

7.	The claimant is entitled to 12 weeks notice pay based on his net weekly wage, of £4,557.60.  From this must be deducted the Jobseeker’s Allowance he received during the notice period of £514.40.  The claimant is therefore entitled to £4,043.20 in respect of notice pay.

8.	The claimant sought payment of the outstanding monies from DEL.  DEL refused the application.  DEL has no liability for claims of holiday pay and notice pay where the employer is not legally insolvent as defined in Article 228 of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (‘the 1996 Order’).  The employer in this case is not legally insolvent as defined in Article 228 and therefore DEL has no liability unless and until the employer becomes insolvent.

9.	The claimant has a separate entitlement to seek redundancy payment from DEL if the employer is either legally insolvent or the claimant has taken all reasonable steps to recover the payment from the employer (Article 201 of the 1996 Order).  In accordance with the provisions of Article 205 of the 1996 Order, I have determined the liability of the employer to pay the redundancy payment and I declare that the amount payable under Article 203 of the 1996 Order is £10,500.

10.	This is a relevant decision for the purposes of the Industrial Tribunals (Interest) Order (Northern Ireland) 1990.

Chairman:

Date and place of hearing:	16 December 2009, Belfast

Date decision recorded in register and issued to parties: