Mr Clarence Hills v Kavanagh Motor Group Ltd: 2302568/2019
JUDGMENT
[1]The Respondent made unlawful deductions from the Claimant’s wages.[2]The Respondent shall pay the Claimant the gross sum of £345.58 (which is to be paid net of lawful deductions of income tax and National Insurance).[3]Upon withdrawal, the complaint of unfair dismissal is dismissed.[4]The claim of breach of contract is dismissed.REASONS
[1]The complaints before me today were as follows: 1.1. Unlawful deduction from wages. 1.2. Breach of contract. 1.3. Unfair dismissal My reasoning in respect of each complaint are as follows. Unlawful deduction from wages[2]The ET3 Response admitted that the Claimant was owed the sum of £345.58 which had been deducted from his wages. Of this sum, £110 was deducted for a parking fine and the balance was unpaid wages. These sums had yet to be repaid to the Claimant. Therefore, I made a declaration and entered judgment for the £345.58 to be paid. Breach of contract[3]The Claimant had not understood the position in law in respect of his claim for breach of contract.[4]Although I did not hear evidence from him, I read the statement at the start of his bundle. The bundle also contained his contract of employment. This includes the following contractual powers were held by the Respondent (at pages 4-5): 4.1. A power to terminate the Claimant’s contract of employment on the giving 1 week of notice; 4.2. A power to terminate with a payment in lieu of notice.[5]Given those powers, the Respondent had a right to terminate the Claimant’s contract of employment by making a payment in lieu of notice. The Claimant accepted that he had received his pay in lieu of notice.[6]I concluded that there was no breach of contract; but if I was wrong about that, the Claimant had received the measure of damages that he was entitled to. Unfair dismissal[7]The Claimant accepted that he did not have sufficient qualifying service. He withdrew this complaint, and I dismissed it. Amendment[8]The Claimant applied to amend the name of the Respondent to include the word “limited”, after I pointed out that this was the title used in the contract of employment. I granted that application; there could be no doubt over who was the correct employer in the light of the contract document.