Mrs A Rowe v The Itstibbits Food Co Ltd: 1401269/2018
JUDGMENT
[1.1]The judgment of 19 September 2018 dismissing the claimant’s claims is reconsidered and revoked.[1.2]The claimant’s claim for a redundancy payment is well-founded and succeeds, she is entitled to a redundancy payment of £400.[1.3]The claimant’s claim of unlawful deductions is well-founded and succeeds, she is entitled to £200.[1.4]The claimant’s claim for breach of contract is well-founded and succeeds, she is entitled to £400;[1.5]The claimant’s claim for accrued untaken annual leave is well-founded and succeeds, she is entitled to £400.REASONS
[1]By a judgment dated 19 September 2018, Mrs A Rowe’s claim for a redundancy payment was dismissed for lack of qualifying employment and her remaining claims dismissed for lack of sufficient evidence or information to quantify any loss, the burden being upon her to prove the same.[2]By an email of 10 October 2018, which I take as an application for reconsideration, Mrs A Rowe provided the following: I didn’t realise I hadn’t sent enough information regarding the claim I sent an email to the court regarding the hearing date, as I’m registered profoundly deaf and would not understand what was being said in the hearing 1, I mrs a rowe worked for tibbits for three years starting May 2015 2, my weekly wage was £200 3, breach-of-contract 3 x£200pounds 4, annual leave 3x£200 was on annual leave at the time he shut the doors and didn’t receive any payment for this[3]Mrs A Rowe’s application was immediately preceded by a letter of the same date written on the instruction of REJ Pirani, which included: Although your email to the Tribunal on 11 September 2018 was referred to a Judge who then sent a reply, unfortunately the reply was not then sent out. The Tribunal service apologises for this. The reply, written by Employment Judge Roper, was to the effect that if you preferred you could prepare a schedule of loss setting out exactly what you are claiming under each aspect of your claim and submit this in writing rather than attend the hearing.[4]From the above correspondence it is apparent that, prior to the hearing on 19 September 2018, Mrs A Rowe had sought to explore with the Tribunal how she might participate in or make representations for the hearing, and that a reply offering guidance on the same was directed by an employment judge but never sent.[5]I am satisfied that it is necessary in the interests of justice, within rule 70 of Schedule 1 to the Employment Tribunals (Constitution and Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2013, to reconsider my original decision in this matter. Whilst on 19 September 2018 it appeared that Mrs A Rowe had simply elected not to participate in the proceedings (I did not have the complete file and was not provided with a copy of her email of 11 September 2018 or the reply directed by EJ Roper), in fact she was seeking to make representations and did not receive a response to her enquiry in that regard. Given a failure by the Tribunal in this, the interests of justice require a reconsideration. Furthermore, in light of the respondent’s non-participation, I am satisfied, in accordance with rule 72(2) that a further hearing is unnecessary. On reconsidering the matter, I revoke my original judgment and grant judgment for the claimant on her claims. Redundancy Payment[6]Mrs A Rowe was employed from May 2015 until her summary dismissal on 6 March 2018, at which point she had 2 complete years of employment. Having been born on 29 October 1977, she was at that point 41 years of age. She is entitled to a redundancy payment calculated as follows 2 X £200 = £400. Unlawful Deductions[7]Mrs A Rowe was on holiday the week before her dismissal (i.e. taking annual leave) and was not paid for this. For that period, she was paid less than was properly payable. The claimant is entitled to a week’s pay in the sum of £200. Breach of Contract[8]Given her employment of more than 2 years, but less than 3, she was entitled to 2 weeks’ notice of dismissal. She is entitled to damages for breach of contract in the sum of 2 x £200 = £400. Annual Leave[9]Mrs A Rowe claims unpaid annual leave in the amount of 3 weeks. This includes, however, the week for which she will be compensated by my judgment on her unlawful deductions claim. I award her the balance, therefore, of 2 weeks, in the sum of 2 x £200 = £400.