Caterer ordered to pay damages for wrongful dismissal

Wednesday 07 December 2016

A catering company must pay a former employee damages after a tribunal determined he was unfairly dismissed and owed wages.

Medina Catering Limited was ordered to pay Oscar Soup a total of £1,584 in relation to unpaid wages, unpaid holiday entitlement and failure to provide notice when his employment was terminated.

Mr Soup filed a complaint with the Jersey Employment and Discrimination Tribunal after he was sacked on the spot by Medina Catering on 8 August of this year.

According to his complaint, he was first told he should work his notice period - one week as specified in his employment contract - but was later told he would be paid in lieu.

Medina had also not paid him for 20 hours he had worked on 29 June and 11 July. He told the Tribunal that he made his employer aware that his pay statement was missing those hours on 26 July and was assured they would be included with his next statement.

However, just two weeks later he was dismissed without notice and received no payment for the unpaid hours, holiday which he had accrued but not taken nor was he given payment in lieu for four bank holidays which he had worked.

Medina Catering made no response to the claim, although the Tribunal noted that one hour before the hearing on the matter, the company attempted to have the hearing adjourned. This request was denied as the tribunal felt they had been given sufficient notice.

Mr Soup had been earning £12 per hour while employed by the catering company, primarily at its Fort Regent operation.

The tribunal ordered that Medina Catering pay Mr Soup £240 in unpaid wages, £480 for untaken and unpaid holiday and £384 for bank holidays worked. In addition, deputy chairman Hilary Griffin said the company's treatment of Mr Soup amounted to wrongful dismissal and awarded an additional £480 for breach of contract.

"The Respondent failed to give notice to the Applicant to terminate his contract of employment," the judgment said. "In accordance with the Applicant’s contract of employment, the Applicant was entitled to receive one week notice to terminate his employment.  The Deputy Chairman accepted the Applicant’s evidence that the Respondent failed to give adequate notice and then failed to make a payment in lieu of notice to the Applicant.

"In view of the above, the Respondent must pay to the Applicant the sum of £480.00 for damages for breach of contract, which amounted to a wrongful dismissal."