Industrial Tribunals Northern Ireland Decisions

THE INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNALS

 

CASE REF:   6116/09

 

 

CLAIMANT:                      Derek Francis Anderson                     

 

 

RESPONDENT:                John Davis, GTS Transport

 

 

DECISION

 

 

The decision of the tribunal is that the claimant is awarded a total of £893.60 which is made up as follows:-

 

(a)            The claimant is awarded £211 pay in lieu of notice.

 

(b)            The claimant is awarded £260.30 outstanding holiday pay.

 

(c)            The claimant is awarded £422 in respect of the respondent’s failure to provide a written statement of employment particulars.

 

 

 

Constitution of Tribunal:

 

Chairman (sitting alone): Mr Travers

 

 

Appearances:

 

The claimant appeared in person and was not represented

 

The respondent did not appear and was not represented

 

 

  

REASONS

 

 

Issues

 

1.              Following termination of his employment, the claimant seeks an award in respect of notice pay and holiday pay. The claimant also raises his right to receive particulars of his contract of employment. Following the pre-acceptance procedure, it was only these three matters which the tribunal accepted.

 

 

 

 

Facts

 

2.              The tribunal heard evidence from the claimant and considered all the information provided.

 

3.              The claimant was employed by the respondent as a driver from around the first week of March 2008, until Friday 29 May 2009 when he was dismissed without notice. On 5 June 2009 the respondent paid the claimant for his last week at work. The claimant has received no other payments. The claimant took no holidays from 1 March 2009 until his dismissal on 29 May 2009.

 

4.              The claimant’s basic pay was £250 gross per week. This equates to £42.24 net per day.

 

5.              The respondent failed to give the claimant a written statement of initial employment particulars or notice of any change.

 

6.              The respondent did not file a response to the claim and nor did he appear at the hearing.

 

 

Law

 

7.              The claimant was employed by the respondent for more than one month but less than two years. Under Article 118 of The Employment Rights (NI) Order 1996 [“ERO”], in the absence of a more generous express contractual term, he was entitled to one week’s notice.

 

8.              Under regulation 13A(2) of the Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 as amended, the claimant was entitled to 24.65 days holiday per year. Upon termination of his employment by the respondent, the claimant was entitled to be paid in respect of the proportion of his leave year which expired prior to the date of termination of his employment. The claimant’s leave year commenced on 1 March 2009.

 

9.              Under Article 33(1) of the ERO, there is a duty on an employer to provide an employee with a written statement of initial employment particulars. Under Article 27 and Schedule 4 of The Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003, when a tribunal makes an award to a claimant in respect of breach of the Working Time Regulations, the tribunal shall increase the award by a minimum of two weeks’ pay unless there are exceptional circumstances which would made such an increase inequitable or unjust.  

 

 

Conclusion

 

10.           The claimant is entitled to £211 in lieu of notice. This is one week’s net basic salary.

 

11.           The claimant worked for one quarter of the year without holidays. He is entitled to £260.30 [(24.65÷4) x £42.24] in respect of outstanding holiday pay upon termination of his employment.

 

12.           The tribunal, having considered all the documents and information made available to it, finds that the claimant is entitled to £422 in respect of the failure of the respondent to provide a written statement of particulars of employment.

 

 

Interest

 

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

 

         

                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chairman:

 

 

Date and place of hearing: 20 October 2009, Belfast.

 

 

Date decision recorded in register and issued to parties: