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Industrial Tribunals Northern Ireland Decisions
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Industrial Tribunals Northern Ireland Decisions >> Jones v K.S.Gill Ltd [2009] NIIT 1235_08IT (26 May 2009)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/nie/cases/NIIT/2009/1235_08.html
Cite as: [2009] NIIT 1235_8IT, [2009] NIIT 1235_08IT
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THE INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNALS
CASE REF: 1235/08
CLAIMANT: Patrick Desmond Jones
RESPONDENT: 1. Mr. Ken Gill
2. K.S. Gill Ltd
DECISION
The unanimous decision of the tribunal is that the respondent should pay to the claimant £1847.00.
Constitution of Tribunal:
Chairman: Ms P Sheils
Members: Mrs Teresa Madden
Mr Norman Wilkinson
Appearances:
The claimant appeared and represented himself.
The respondent appeared and represented himself.
1. At the outset the Tribunal amended the claimant’s claim form to correct date the on which the employment of the claimant was terminated, 11 July 2008. There was no objection from the respondent to this amendment.
Sources of Evidence
Witnesses
2. The Tribunal heard evidence from the claimant and the respondent.
Findings of Fact
3. The Tribunal found the following relevant facts agreed or proven on a balance of probabilities;
The claimant was employed by the respondent on 2 February 2006 as a granite technician in the respondent’s kitchen business.
On 4 July 2008 Mr Gill advised the claimant and his co-worker that he was closing the business. Mr Gill advised the claimant and the co-worker not to come into work the following Monday.
However the claimant had a commitment to complete a job before the July holidays 2008. The claimant had fitted the job and was interested in getting it completed. The claimant attended work on Monday and Tuesday 7 and 8 July, made up the kitchen and fabricated it. The claimant attended the client’s house on Thursday 10 July and fitted the kitchen. The claimant stated that he had received £150 for that week. The claimant’s employment was terminated on 11 July 2008.
The respondent stated that the business had ceased to trade and that it had become insolvent. Mr Gill had run the company for 3 years during which time it had made no profit. Mr Gill had put money into the business up until July 2008 but at that stage Mr Gill had no money left. Mr Gill indicated to the Tribunal that he was not in a position to pay administrators. Mr Gill indicated that he was dependent on some of his creditors putting in an application to wind the company up.
There was no documentation available to the Tribunal. The claimant indicated that his not being given pay slips had been an ongoing issue he had had with Mr Gill. Mr Gill indicated that there had been trouble with one of the book keepers but otherwise payslips had been issued. However, the Tribunal noted that Mr Gill did not produce any documentary evidence payslip or records covering what payments had been made to the claimant.
The claimant claimed redundancy pay, unlawful deduction from wages in respect of the failure by Mr Gill to pay him for a lie-in week, outstanding holiday and notice pay. Mr Gill indicated that he believed that a lie-in week had been paid to the claimant but had no other evidence to indicate that this was the case. Otherwise Mr Gill did not dispute claims being made by the claimant.
The Law
The Tribunal considered the law. In particular the Tribunal had regard to the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland Order) 1996 and specifically Article 170 of that Order which provides –
An employer shall pay a redundancy payment to any employee of his if the employee –
(a) is dismissed by the employer by reason of redundancy or
(b) is eligible for a redundancy payment by reason of being laid off but kept on short time.
Article 171 of that Order goes on to provide a claimant’s right on dismissal by reason of redundancy, at Article 171 subject to the provisions of this Articles 172 and 173 for the purposes of this part an employee is dismissed by his employer if (and only if – (a) the contract under which he is employed by the employer is terminated by the employer) whether with or without notice).
The Tribunal also had regard to Article 118 of the Order which provides for notice. This Article provides at 118------
The notice required to be given by an employer to terminate the contract of employment of a person who has been continuously employed for one month or more ----
(b) is not less than one week’s notice for each year of continuous employment if his period of continuous employment is two years or more but less than twelve years
The Tribunal also had regard to Article 45 of the same order which provides specific protection of wages and the right not to suffer unauthorised deductions,
An employer shall not make a deduction from wages of a worker employed by him unless
(a) the deduction is required or authorised to be made by virtue of the statutory provision or a relevant provision of the workers contract or
(b) the worker has previously signified in writing his agreement or consent to the making of the deduction.
The Tribunal’s Conclusions
The Tribunal has concluded in light of the findings of fact that the claimant was made redundant and is entitled therefore to receive redundancy pay. The Tribunal also concluded that the claimant was entitled to receive a payment in lieu of notice, a payment to cover his lie-in week and his holiday pay.
Accordingly the Tribunal orders the respondent to pay the claimant the following.
Redundancy Pay
£350 (maximum weekly limit) x 2 years employment = £700
Holiday Pay
3.5 days = £217
Lie-in Week = £310
Payment in Lieu of Notice
£310 x 2 weeks = £620
_______
TOTAL: £1847.00
This is a relevant decision for the purposes of the Industrial Tribunals (Interest) Order (Northern Ireland) 1990.
Chairman:
Date and place of hearing:
Date decision recorded in register and issued to parties: