Industrial Tribunals Northern Ireland Decisions

THE INDUSTRIAL TRIBUNALS

 

CASE REF: 1389/16

 

 

 

CLAIMANT: Maria Da Conceicao Da Gloria Veloso

 

 

RESPONDENTS: 1. Jacques Grillon t/a La Bamba Bar & Restaurant

2. Luciana Maia

 

 

 

DECISION

The unanimous decision of the tribunal is that the claimant had been unfairly dismissed by the two respondents, had not been provided with terms and conditions of her employment and had not been paid for one week before her dismissal. Compensation of £1,686.48 is awarded as calculated in this decision.

 

Constitution of Tribunal:

Vice President: Mr N Kelly

(sitting alone)

 

Members: Mr I O'Hea

Mr R Hanna

Appearances:

The claimant was represented by Mr S McIlroy, who was appearing pro bono as part of the Legal Support Project.

The respondents did not appear and they were not represented.

 

1. This was a claim alleging unfair dismissal, unauthorised deduction of wages, a failure to provide statutory written particulars and a failure to pay holiday pay. The claimant gave evidence with the assistance of an interpreter, Ms Clea Devlin.

 

Relevant findings of fact

 

2. The claim in respect of holiday pay was not proceeded with at the hearing. In relation to the claim for unpaid wages for 26, 27, 28 February 2016, the claimant accepted that she had been paid in cash for those days and again that claim was not proceeded with by the claimant.

 

3. The claimant had been employed for four complete years as a cleaner working for the two respondents in La Bamba Bar & Restaurant, Portadown.

 

4. The claimant did not receive, at any stage during her employment, the statutory written statement of particulars of employment required under Articles 33(1) and 36(1) of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996.

 

5. The claimant was dismissed by the respondents on 9 March 2016.

 

6. The respondents did not follow the statutory dismissal procedure as set out in Schedule 1 to the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003. The dismissal was therefore automatically unfair.

 

7. Having heard the claimant give evidence, the tribunal is satisfied that the claimant had also been substantively unfairly dismissed.

 

8. The claimant had been employed by the respondents to work 16 hours per week at £6.70 per hour. Her gross weekly wage amounted to £107.20. Her net weekly wage was of the same amount.

 

9. The claimant received no pay for the period from 29 February 2016 to her dismissal on 9 March 2016.

 

Remedy

 

10. The claimant is entitled to a basic award calculated in accordance with the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996. That amounts to six weeks' gross pay at £107.20, totalling £643.20.

 

11. The claimant is entitled to a compensatory award, again calculated in accordance with the 1996 Order. The claimant did not obtain alternative employment for four weeks after the date of her dismissal and is therefore entitled to four weeks' compensatory award at £107.20, totalling £428.80.

 

12. The claimant sought an uplift of the compensatory award of 50% of the compensatory award in accordance with the 1996 Order and the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2003. The tribunal is satisfied that the statutory uplift is appropriate in this case but that it should be fixed at the minimum, ie 10% of the compensatory award. There is no evidence that the employers had been maliciously or deliberately careless of the statutory obligations placed upon them under this legislation. However they had terminated the claimant's employment without following the statutory procedure.

 

The 10% uplift increases the compensatory award by £42.88.

 

13. The claimant sought compensation for loss of statutory rights of £500.00. The claimant in this instance had been employed for four complete years on a part-time basis at the minimum wage rate. In these circumstances, the tribunal considers that the appropriate figure for loss of statutory rights is £250.00.

 

14. The claimant did not receive any payment between 29 February 2016 when she had been suspended by the second-named respondent and 9 March 2016 the date of her dismissal. She is therefore entitled to one week's pay in that respect, which comes to another £107.20.

 

15. The total remedy is therefore:-

 

Basic Award £ 643.20

 

Compensatory Award (including statutory uplift of 10%) £ 471.68

 

Failure to provide statutory written particulars

of employment £ 214.40

 

Loss of statutory rights £ 250.00

 

Unlawful deduction of wages £ 107.20

 

Total £1,686.48

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vice President

 

 

Date and place of hearing: 30 September 2016, at Belfast

 

 

Date decision recorded in register and issued to parties: