Jason Elliott was called to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2013 and is the Associate Head of School of Law at Ulster University. As a practising barrister, he has developed a largely civil practice representing individuals, companies and public bodies in litigation. This covers a wide range of areas including personal injuries, wills and employment law. In terms of employment law, he has represented both applicants and respondents in the Industrial Tribunal. At Ulster University, Jason lectures extensively on the civil areas of practise such as Equity and Trusts and delivers employment law lectures for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Claimant entitled to a range of pay based awards when the respondent had not paid him correctly. Claimant also entitled to four weeks’ gross pay for failure to provide a written statement of particulars.
The claimant commenced employment with the respondent in July 2024. The terms were 40 hours per week at £10 per hour; i.e. £400 gross per week. The respondent deducted monies purportedly for Income Tax and National Insurance. This was typically £80 per week.
On 20th September 2024 the claimant was only paid £80 rather than the full week’s pay. The claimant’s employment was then terminated on 27th September 2024 without notice. The respondent had failed to pay a week’s pay for the week up to 27th September, the claimant had only had one day’s paid holiday, and no written statement had been given.
The records indicated that the respondent had deducted £841 for Income Tax/National Insurance yet HMRC records state that only £76.72 had been paid for the period of employment.
The Tribunal found that the claimant had not been paid for the last full week of work and was entitled to £400. There had also been an underpayment of £320 from the week ending 20th September. Additionally, the deductions to HMRC had been too high and were excessive to the amount of £764.28. Holiday pay had accrued to the level of 5.9 days which had not been taken so the claimant was entitled to £472. Lastly, there had been a failure to provide a written statement of particulars and so the Tribunal found it just and equitable to increase the award equal to four weeks’ gross pay. This was an additional £1600.
On the face of it, a fairly straightforward case of the employer not fulfilling clear obligations relating to pay. The clearest learning point here can be from the lack of written statement of particulars and the award of four weeks’ gross pay. Employers should be aware that this is a legal requirement and should be given when an employee begins their employment. This also has a second benefit of ensuring that the key aspects of the employment are well set out in writing and clear should an issue arise.
NI Tribunal decisions are available on the OITFET website.
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