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Industrial Tribunals Northern Ireland Decisions
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Industrial Tribunals Northern Ireland Decisions >> Smith v Gerry Gleeson [2011] NIIT 00844_11IT (27 June 2011)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/nie/cases/NIIT/2011/00844_11IT.html
Cite as: [2011] NIIT 844_11IT, [2011] NIIT 00844_11IT
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THE INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNALS
CASE REF: 844/11
CLAIMANT: Stephen Bernard Smith
RESPONDENT: Gerry Gleeson
DECISION
The decision of the tribunal is that the claimant is entitled to a redundancy payment of £1,600.00.
Constitution of Tribunal:
Chairman (sitting alone): Mr P Cross
Appearances:
The claimant appeared in person and was not represented.
The respondent appeared in person and was not represented.
Findings of Fact
1. The claimant who was born on 8 September 1979, was first employed by the respondent at the end of February 2005. He was employed as a roofer but due to the downturn in work in recent months was told by the respondent, after the Christmas holiday in December 2010, that there would be no work until 10 January. He had been expecting to start on 6 January 2011, but on the evening of 5 January he received a text form the respondent to say there was no work. On 9 January 2011, the respondent telephoned the claimant to tell him that he was to be continued to be laid off for the time being, as there was no work to be done. The claimant had no written contract of employment.
2. The claimant heard nothing further from the respondent and continued to be laid off. On 4 February 2011, the claimant wrote to the respondent to say that he would hand in his resignation on Monday, 7 February. He went on to state that he intended to claim a redundancy payment. On 7 February, having heard nothing from the respondent the claimant resigned from the respondent’s employment. His 7 days notice expired on 14 February 2011. The claimant heard nothing further from the respondent, save that he got a form P45 dated 3 February 2011, which showed the date of leaving employment as 10 January 2011. He commenced these proceedings on 22 March 2011.
The Law
3. Article 183 of The Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996, (“the Order”), states as follows:
“Article 183.- (1) Subject to the following provisions of this Part, for the purposes of this Part an employee is eligible for a redundancy payment by reason of being laid off or kept on short-time if —
(a) he gives notice in writing to his employer indicating (in whatever terms) his intention to claim a redundancy payment in respect of lay-off or short-time (referred to in this Part as
“notice of intention to claim”), and —
(b) before the service of the notice he has been laid off or kept on short-time in circumstances in which paragraph (2) applies.
(2) This paragraph applies if the employee has been laid off or kept on short-time —
(a) for four or more consecutive weeks of which the last before the service of the notice ended on, or not more than four weeks before, the date of service of the notice, or
(b) ……………….”
4. The employer has a right to give a counter notice to the employee under Article 184, but this was not done in this case.
5 Article 185
Under Article 185 of the Order the employee must give his contractual notice, or if there is no such contract, then one weeks notice, before bringing tribunal proceedings to claim his redundancy payment. These proceedings may not be commenced until after the period of 3 weeks from the expiration of the claimant’s notice period.
Decision
6. I am satisfied that the claimant was laid off as he described. He had no work from the day he was first laid off, 6 January 2011. He then served the written notice under Article 183 of the Order after being laid off for 4 weeks. His notice of resignation ran for 7 days from Monday, 7 February and, there being no counter notice served by the respondent, he commenced tribunal proceedings some 6 weeks later.
7. His entitlement to redundancy is as follows:-
Number of years completed employment is 5 and the claimant’s gross wage was £320.00 per week. His age at the time of his leaving employment was 31 years.
Redundancy payment amounts to 5 x £320.00 = £1,600.00
The tribunal awards the claimant £1,600.00.
8. This is a relevant decision for the purposes of the Industrial Tribunals (Interest) Order (Northern Ireland) 1990.
Chairman:
Date and place of hearing: 15 June 2011, Belfast
Date decision recorded in register and issued to parties: