Mr H Roberts v Lancastrian Estates (Preston) Ltd: 6003506/2025
JUDGMENT
[1]The claimant is entitled to a redundancy payment of £6,300.00. The respondent has paid £1,676.80 towards this. The Tribunal therefore awards the balance of £4,623.20.REASONS
[1]The claimant brought a claim for a redundancy payment in the sum of £6,300. The parties agree that this is the correctly-calculated sum.[2]At the time of termination of employment, there was a dispute as to the notice pay payable. This was ultimately resolved, and I understand the claimant was paid the sum of £22,326.90 in respect of his notice, subject to tax and national insurance deductions. The respondent took the position that, whilst it agreed a further £6,300 was owed in respect of a redundancy payment, it did not have funds to pay this.[3]Subsequently, it appears that the respondent realised that the redundancy payment could have been paid on a tax-free basis. It has applied to HMRC for a tax refund by, as I understand it, retrospectively apportioning £6,300 of the notice pay payment as redundancy pay. This refund appears to have been received, and the respondent duly passed on £1,676.80 to the claimant, which the claimant agrees he has received.[4]The respondent did not attend today. The claimant asked me to make an award of £4,623.20 in respect of redundancy pay.[5]From correspondence, I believe if the respondent had attended it would likely have raised no objection to me making a Judgment in favour of the claimant in the sum of £4,623.20 (the difference between £6,300 and £1,676.80) but it would have contended that the award should have been made in respect of (taxable) notice pay, and not (non-taxable) redundancy pay.[6]The claimant’s trenchant position is that he received his notice pay but he did not receive his redundancy pay. He brought a claim for redundancy pay, not notice, and he should not be disadvantaged (including in a potential claim to the redundancy payments service) by what he described as the respondent’s “jiggery-pokery”. He pointed out that he received the £1,676.80 direct from the respondent, and not as a rebate from HMRC. He considers that that payment should be applied towards the outstanding redundancy payment.[7]I have agreed to make a Judgment for redundancy pay in the claimant’s favour, largely for the reasons he put forward. I am not prepared to find that it is open to the respondent to unilaterally re-classify the notice pay it has paid as redundancy pay (albeit that it may actually have been in the claimant’s best interests to do so given the tax position). In particular, I am not prepared to find that in circumstances where the respondent has not attended and put forward its case in opposition to the claimant. Essentially, I am left to guess what the respondent would have said.[8]The result of this Judgment is likely to be that the claimant owes money to HMRC for his notice pay, irrespective of whether or not he receives his redundancy payment, but that is his preference.[9]I have set out brief reasons for this Judgment in view of the fact that the respondent did not attend, and it may be helpful for the respondent (and/or officials at HMRC and/or the RPS) to understand the reasoning behind the decision I have made. Approved by