Ms L Farnham and others v TTR PT Ltd (In Administration) and The Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Industrial Strategy: 1404015/2022 and others
EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNALS
Case No 1404015/2022
Between
Ms L Farnham and othersClaimantTTR PT Ltd (In Administration) and The Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Industrial StrategyRespondent
Before
Employment Judge Mr P CadneyIn person for claimantNot represented for respondentDate 5 February 2024
JUDGMENT
The unanimous judgment of the tribunal is that:- Claimants 1/2/3/4/5 I) The Claimants claims against R1 for a protective award are well founded and the tribunal makes the declaration set out below: The Tribunal declares that the complaint that TTR PT Ltd (R1) failed to comply with a requirement of section of 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA) is well founded and makes a protective award in respect of the claimants as being employed at its premises at Waterloo Road, Poole, Hampshire who were dismissed as redundant on or after18th November 2022 and orders the respondent to pay to those employees remuneration for the protected period of (90) days beginning on 18th November 2022. C1 – Ms L Farnham[1]The claimant’s following claims are well founded and upheld, and the tribunal makes the awards set out in respect of them: i) Wrongful Dismissal - Contractual Notice Pay - £53,000 gross ii) Wrongful Dismissal - Pension Loss During the Notice Period - £880.56 iii) Unfair Dismissal- Compensatory Award - £500 C2 – Mr K Lyons[2]The claimant’s following claims are well founded and upheld, and the tribunal makes the awards set out in respect of them:[3]Wrongful Dismissal - Contractual Notice Pay- £595.76[4]Unfair Dismissal – Compensatory Award - £7464.51 C3 -Mr G Slade[5]The claimant’s following claims are well founded and upheld, and the tribunal makes the awards set out in respect of them:[6]Unfair Dismissal- Compensatory Award - £13,249.21 C4 Ms K Tyler / C5 Ms B Roxburgh[7]Save for the claim for a protective award as set out above all the claimants’ other claims are dismissed.
REASONS
[1]By these claims each of the claimants bring a number of claims as are set out in relation to the individual claimants below. Protective Award[2]All the claimants bring claims for a protective award.[3]The evidence that all three claimants have given and which we accept is as follows. All were employed at the respondent’s premises at Waterloo Road, Poole. On 14th November 2022 the employees were informed that the respondent had filed to enter administration that morning. The employees were divided into three groups – the first employees who were to be dismissed by reason of redundancy- the second a group where no decision had been made – and the third employees who were to be retained. There were twenty five people in the first group which included all of the claimants. All were invited to a group meeting on 15th November 2022 at which they were informed there would be no consultation and that they would be dismissed by the end of the week. Finally in a group call on 18th November 2022 all were informed that they were being dismissed with immediate effect.[4]It follows that we accept: i) That the respondents proposed to, and in fact did, dismiss as redundant more than twenty employees within a period of 90 days or less; ii) All twenty worked at the same establishment; iii) There was no trade union recognised; iv) No employee representatives were appointed; v) There was no consultation with any of the individual employees.[5]It follows that in our judgement the claimants are entitled to a protective award as set out above. C1 – Ms L Farnham[6]Ms Farnham has also brought the following claims to which no response has been entered.[7]Wrongful Dismissal - Contractual Notice Pay -6 months’ notice – I have awarded this gross as £53,000, as this is the contractual sum owed by the respondent. As a matter of fact the claimant has received statutory notice pay from the Redundancy Payments Service as set out in her Schedule of Loss. The recoupment/repayment of this will only be relevant if and to the extent that the claimant is able to enforce this judgment.[8]Wrongful Dismissal - Pension Loss during notice period 6 x £146.76- £880.56[9]Holiday Pay – The claimant’s Schedule of Loss does not allege that there was any accrued but untaken holiday at the date of dismissal. Her claim is for the holiday which would have accrued during the notice period. However as any holiday entitlement accruing during the notice period would simply have involved the right to be absent from work but still paid, as she has received judgement for her pay during the notice period, any payment for holiday pay during the notice period would necessarily involve double recovery and I have made no award under this head of claim.[10]Unfair Dismissal – Basic Award- No award is claimed, but for completeness sake, all the claimants have received statutory redundancy pay from the Insolvency Service which is an alternative to and calculated in exactly the same way as the basic award; and I have made no basic award.[11]Compensatory Award- Loss of Earnings – No loss of earnings is claimed beyond 1st March 2023 which is within the notice period and covered by the award above. .[12]Compensatory Award - Loss of Statutory Rights- In my judgement the correct figure is the conventional figure of £500.[13]Compensatory Award - ACAS Uplift – As the claimant was dismissed by reason of redundancy the ACAS code does not apply and no uplift is available. C2 – Mr K Lyons[1]Mr Lyons has also brought the following claims to which no response has been entered.[2]Wrongful Dismissal- Notice Pay – The claimant claims the difference between the amount paid by the RPs and his full notice entitlement - £595.76[3]Unfair Dismissal – Basic Award – As above this has been paid by the RPS and no award is made. .[4]Unfair Dismissal - Compensatory Award – Loss of Earnings £464.30 x 15 = £6964.51 (net)[5]Compensatory Award -Loss of Statutory Rights - £500[6]Compensatory Award - ACAS uplift - As the claimant was dismissed by reason of redundancy the ACAS code does not apply and no uplift is available C3 - Mr G Slade[1]Unfair Dismissal - Basic Award – As above this has been paid by the RPS and no award is made. .[2]Unfair Dismissal – Compensatory Award – Loss of Earnings - 3 x £5,000 (- £2855 + £946) = £11,119.00 (gross) (This has been awarded as a gross figure as no net figures were provided in the Schedule Of Loss. In the event that the claimant is able to enforce the award the amount payable will be the correct net figure)[3]Unfair Dismissal – Compensatory Award – Pension Loss – 3 x £110.07 - £330.21[4]Compensatory Award -Car Allowance – 3 x £400 = - £1200 Compensatory Award -Job Seeking Expenses - £100[6]Compensatory Award -Loss of Statutory Rights - £500[7]Compensatory Award - ACAS uplift - As the claimant was dismissed by reason of redundancy the ACAS code does not apply and no uplift is available[8]Holiday Pay – Losses to 18th November 2022 - This has been paid by the RPS and no award is made. .[9]Holiday Pay – Losses post 18th November 2022 – As the claimant has received loss of earnings for this period any further compensation for future holiday pay would involve double recovery and no award is made. C4 Ms K Tyler / C5 Mr B Roxburgh[10]Neither claimant has supplied a Schedule of Loss or attended to give evidence and no further awards are made to them.