Freely Available British and Irish Public Legal Information
[Home] [Databases] [World Law] [Multidatabase Search] [Help] [Feedback]
Industrial Tribunals Northern Ireland Decisions
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Industrial Tribunals Northern Ireland Decisions >> Graham v Department for Employment and ... [2013] NIIT 01760_12IT (09 January 2013)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/nie/cases/NIIT/2013/1760_12IT.html
Cite as: [2013] NIIT 1760_12IT, [2013] NIIT 01760_12IT
[New search] [Printable RTF version] [Help]
THE INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNALS
CASE REF: 1760/12
CLAIMANT: William Graham
RESPONDENT: Department for Employment and Learning
DECISION
The claimant’s appeals have been upheld. The parties will now do their best to agree on the amounts due to the claimant in light of this Decision. The amount due to the claimant from the Department will be assessed, during the course of a remedies hearing, only if the parties’ efforts to agree those amounts are unsuccessful.
Constitution of Tribunal:
Chairman (Sitting alone): Mr P Buggy
Appearances:
The claimant was self-represented.
The Department was represented by Mr P Curran.
REASONS
1. The parties to these proceedings agree that the claimant was employed by “Edwin Rowan t/a PLM Promotions” for some time until 30 November 2011; that he was dismissed at that point; and that that employer owed him sums in respect of wages, holiday pay, notice pay and redundancy pay, which were never paid to him by that employer.
2. The claimant made applications to the respondent Department (“the Department”), in its role as the statutory guarantor in respect of certain debts.
3. The claimant’s applications to the Department were resolved to his satisfaction, except in the following respects.
4. The Department, on the basis of the information then available to it, was not satisfied that the claimant’s relevant period of employment can properly be regarded as having commenced at any time prior to January 2006. Accordingly, pursuant to the claimant’s application to the Department as the statutory guarantor, the Department calculated, and paid to the claimant, notice pay and redundancy payments on the basis that his relevant employment had begun only in January 2006.
5. This was a hearing only in respect of the claimant’s appeals against the Department’s statutory guarantor decisions. Indeed, it was only an appeal in respect of the consequences of the Department’s determination in relation to the period of commencement of the relevant period or periods of employment.
6. At the end of the hearing, I announced my decision orally. At the same time, I gave oral reasons for that decision. Accordingly, what follows is by way of summary only.
7. The claimant provided me with detailed sworn oral testimony. On the balance of probabilities, I was satisfied that the claimant was a truthful witness.
8. On the basis of the claimant’s testimony, I was satisfied that, for the purposes of calculating the amounts due to the claimant in respect of redundancy pay and in respect of notice pay (for the purposes of the relevant statutory guarantee applications), the claimant’s relevant period of employment should be treated as having begun on 6 November 2000.
9. I was satisfied that the claimant had been continuously employed in the same enterprise from 6 November 2000 until 30 November 2011. I was satisfied that, during that period, any change of employer which occurred was a change which amounted to a relevant transfer for the purposes of the transfer of undertakings legislation. I was satisfied that each succeeding employer was an associate of the previous employer (on the basis that Mr Rowan had economic control of each company). In this context, I refer to Articles 4 and 14 of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.
Chairman:
Date and place of hearing: 19 November 2012, Belfast.
Date decision recorded in register and issued to parties: