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Industrial Tribunals Northern Ireland Decisions
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Industrial Tribunals Northern Ireland Decisions >> McWilliams v TMH Distribution Ltd [2013] NIIT 02205_12IT (13 March 2013)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/nie/cases/NIIT/2013/2205_12IT.html
Cite as: [2013] NIIT 2205_12IT, [2013] NIIT 02205_12IT
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THE INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNALS
CASE REF: 2205/12
CLAIMANT: Francis McWilliams
RESPONDENT: TMH Distribution Ltd
DECISION
The unanimous decision of the tribunal is that the claimant was unfairly dismissed and is awarded the sum of £29,445.00. The claimant is entitled to a redundancy payment in the sum of £4,789.45. The claimant is entitled to pay in lieu of notice in the sum of £2,860.00.
Constitution of Tribunal:
Chairman: Mrs Ó Murray
Members: Mrs M Ferguson
Mr M McKeown
Appearances:
The claimant represented himself.
The respondent did not appear and was not represented.
REASONS
1. The claimant claimed unfair dismissal, redundancy payment and notice pay. The tribunal considered the claim form, the response form and the documentation to which it was referred together with the oral evidence of the claimant in reaching the following findings of fact and conclusions.
2. The claimant’s date of birth is 5 October 1950 and he was employed as a lorry driver by the respondent from 13 August 2001 until 14 September 2012. The claimant’s gross pay was £290.27 per week and his net pay was £260.00 per week.
3. The claimant was summarily dismissed as he was told by his boss Sean Scott that there was no more work for him. His dismissal was therefore for redundancy and no procedure, statutory or otherwise was followed. As the dismissal was in breach of the statutory dismissal procedure, the dismissal was automatically unfair.
4. In the tribunal’s view the claimant is unlikely to obtain further employment for a further year from the date of the hearing and future loss is therefore calculated on that basis. The panel arrived at this decision on the basis of its knowledge of the current job market and the claimant’s age and level of skill.
5. The tribunal must consider an uplift to the compensatory award for unfair dismissal, in the light of the complete failure to follow statutory dismissal procedures. In the absence of any explanation from the respondent for the failure to follow procedures, the tribunal assesses the uplift at the maximum level of 50%.
6. The claimant is entitled to statutory notice pay calculated as follows:
11 weeks x £260.00 net = £2,860.00
7. The claimant is entitled to a redundancy payment calculated as follows:
11 years x 1½ weeks x £290.27 = £4,789.45.
8. The claimant is entitled to unfair dismissal compensation calculated as follows:
Basic Award
11 years x 1½ weeks x £290.27 = £ 4,789.45
Deduct statutory redundancy payment = £ 4,789.45
Total basic award = NIL
Compensatory award
Loss between 14 September 2012 and 27 February 2013:
23.5 weeks x £260.00 net = £ 6,110.00
Future loss:
52 weeks x £260.00 net = £13,520.00
Total compensatory award = £19,630.00
Uplift for failure to follow SDP 50% = £ 9,815.00
Total unfair dismissal compensation = £29,445.00
Summary
Unfair dismissal compensation = £29,445.00
Redundancy payment = £ 4,789.45
Notice pay = £ 2,860.00
Total compensation = £37,094.45
9. The claimant has been in receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance since the date of his dismissal. The breakdown for recoupment purposes is as follows:
Compensatory award: £29,445.00
Prescribed element relating to the period between
EDT 14 September 2012 and date of hearing
27 February 2013: £ 6,110.00
£23,335.00
10. This is a relevant decision for the purposes of the Industrial Tribunals (Interest) Order (Northern Ireland) 1990.
Chairman:
Date and place of hearing: 27 February 2013, Belfast.
Date decision recorded in register and issued to parties: