Industrial Tribunals Northern Ireland Decisions

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URL: http://www.bailii.org/nie/cases/NIIT/2014/1682_13IT.html
Cite as: [2014] NIIT 1682_13IT

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THE INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNALS

CASE REF: 1682/13

CLAIMANT: Ronald Archibald McLaughlin

RESPONDENTS: 1. Ballyclare Precast

2. Department for Employment and Learning

DECISION

The unanimous decision of the tribunal is that the second-named respondent is ordered to pay the claimant the sum of £13,593.38 as calculated at paragraph 5 of this Decision.

Constitution of Tribunal:

Chairman (sitting alone): Ms E McCaffrey

Appearances:

The claimant appeared in person.

The first-named respondent was not represented.

The second-named respondent was represented by Mr Neil Cruikshanks.

1. The claimant was employed by the first-named respondent and commenced his employment in January 1981. He remained working at the same location until 13 December 2012. The respondent employer had gone through a number of different name changes by that stage and the claimant’s ultimate employer was Mr Sudds Ltd which subsequently went into liquidation. The claimant indicated that he had been told by Mr Michael Ferris, the owner of Mr Sudds Ltd that the company was closing about a week before it actually ceased trading on the 13 December 2012. The claimant therefore had approximately 32 years service at the date when the company closed, his gross pay was £330.75, his net pay was £273.58. He had taken most of the holiday he was entitled to that year apart from two weeks at Christmas which was the usual holiday.

2. The claimant was told by Mr Ferris that he would organise the submission of forms to obtain their redundancy pay and notice pay through his accountant, and the claimant did not need to do anything. As time went by the claimant contacted Mr Ferris by phone on a number of occasions but was unable to get any clear answers from him. Ultimately in May or June the claimant was asked by Mr Ferris to provide his birth certificate for the claim form and the claimant indicated that he delivered his birth certificate, and that of David Carmichael to Mr Ferris’ home sometime in May or June 2013.

3. The claimant had not been aware of any time limits which applied in relation to his claim until he received a letter from the Redundancy Payments Service dated 23 August 2013. This letter indicated that his claim had been received on 28 June 2013 and was rejected on the basis that it was out-of-time. The claimant subsequently lodged his claim in the Industrial Tribunal appealing against the decision of the Department of the Employment and Learning.

4. I am satisfied that the claimant’s claims are well-founded. I am also satisfied that in this case it was not reasonably practicable for the claimant to lodge his claim for notice pay and holiday pay within the requisite three month time-limit, because he understood that this had already been done on his behalf by his employer’s accountant. I am also satisfied that his claim for redundancy pay was not lodged with the Department in time, but it is just and equitable in the circumstances to extend time for the lodging of the claim, as the claimant believed his claim had been lodged with the Redundancy Payments Service within the appropriate timescale by his employer’s accountant, and subsequently appealed the refusal within the three month time limit. His claim was lodged in the Industrial Tribunal on 18 September 2013. As he was made redundant on 13 December 2012, his claim to an Industrial Tribunal was lodged within the six month period immediately after the initial six month period during which he could claim his redundancy payment, under Article 199(2) of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996. It appears to me to be just and equitable that the employee should receive a redundancy payment in the circumstances.

5. Accordingly I order the second-named respondent to make the following payments to the claimant:-

(1) Redundancy pay - £330.75 x 20 years x 1½ = £ 9,922.50

(2) Notice pay – the claimant was entitled to

12 weeks’ notice pay of which he worked one week,

he is therefore entitled to pay in lieu of notice as follows:

£273.58 x 11 = £ 3,009.38

Holiday pay - the claimant was owed 10 days’ holiday:

therefore £330.75 x 2 = £ 661.50

Total £13,593.38

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

Chairman:

Date and place of hearing: 9 January 2014, Belfast.

Date decision recorded in register and issued to parties:

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