THE INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNALS

CASE REF:	1913/11

CLAIMANT:			Thomas Hutchinson

RESPONDENT:		Mooney’s Bakery Limited

DECISION
The unanimous decision of the tribunal is that the claimant is entitled to:-

	(a)	redundancy payment of £3,995.52;

	(b)	unpaid wages of £815.52;

	(c)	holiday pay of £326.21;

	(d)	notice pay of £2,446.56; and

	(e)	was unfairly dismissed and is entitled to compensation of £19,829.38.

Constitution of Tribunal:
Chairman:		Mr P Kinney
Members:		Mr J Patterson
			Mr J Boyd

Appearances:
The claimant appeared in person and represented himself.
The respondent did not appear and had not filed a response.

Findings of fact

1.	The claimant was employed by the respondent from June 2003 until his employment ended on 17 June 2011.  The claimant’s age at the date of dismissal was 59 and he had nine years of service with the respondent.  

2.	At the date of termination of employment the claimant’s gross weekly wage was £332.96 and his net weekly wage was £271.84.

3.	The claimant’s employment ceased when he was dismissed with immediate effect.  No dismissal procedure whatsoever was followed by the respondent.  The respondent has ceased trading but has not become insolvent within the terms of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.

4.	The claimant makes claims for redundancy payment, unpaid wages, holiday pay, notice pay and unfair dismissal.  He seeks three weeks’ wages and six days’ holiday pay.

5.	After hearing the evidence of the claimant, the tribunal is satisfied that his claims are well-founded.  The tribunal makes the following awards:-

		(a)	Redundancy pay

The claimant is entitled to 12 weeks’ pay based on his gross weekly wage.  The claimant is therefore entitled to £3,995.52.

		(b)	Unpaid wages

The claimant is entitled to three weeks’ wages.  This is based on his net weekly wage.  The claimant is therefore entitled to £815.52.

		(c)	Holiday pay

The claimant is entitled to six days’ holiday pay.  This is based on his net weekly wage.  The claimant is therefore entitled to £326.21.

		(d)	Notice pay

The claimant is entitled to nine weeks’ notice pay.  This is based on his net weekly wage.  The claimant is therefore entitled to £2,446.56.

		(e)	Unfair dismissal

Under the terms of Article 130A of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 an employee is unfairly dismissed if one of the statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedures, set out in the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003, applies in relation to the dismissal, that procedure has not been completed and the             non-completion of the procedure is wholly or mainly attributable to failure by the employer to comply with these requirements.  In this case the tribunal is satisfied that the employer has failed to comply with the requirements of the statutory dismissal and disciplinary procedures and the claimant’s dismissal is therefore automatically unfair.  The claimant is therefore entitled to the basic award of £3,995.52.  To prevent duplication of award, however, from this figure should be deducted the redundancy payment, leaving a basic award figure of Nil.

In calculating the compensatory award the tribunal took into account the attempts made by the claimant to obtain further work in the current economic climate and it is the view of the tribunal that a future loss of 26 weeks should be allowed based on the claimant’s net weekly pay.  The total award for the compensatory figure is £13,863.84.  To this should be added the claimant’s loss of statutory rights in a figure of £300.00, making a total compensatory award, before uplift, of £14,163.84.  Under the provisions of the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 where an employer fails to follow the statutory dismissal procedure the tribunal should uplift the amount of a compensatory award by at least 10% and up to a maximum of 50%.  In this case the claimant was given no advance warning of the impending closure of the business.  In those circumstances, the tribunal considered the appropriate uplift is 40%.  This results in a total award, including uplift, of £19,829.38.

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

Chairman:

Date and place of hearing:	2 December 2011, Belfast

Date decision recorded in register and issued to parties: