Boatyard mechanic whose work burned down awarded £14k

Friday 21 July 2017

A mechanic who worked at a boatyard that burned down in a serious blaze has finally been paid for his last month of work – over a year-and-a-half after the fire - following an unusual Tribunal case.

Rhees Evans was last week paid more than £14,000 in compensation and unpaid salary.

He had been working at Gallichan Marine boatyard for 14 years before the St Aubin premises was torn apart by a fire in December 2015. Just weeks later, the body of the boatyard’s owner was found at his home - an inquest ruled he had committed suicide. 

With the company’s sole director having passed away, the Tribunal heard that Mr Evans was left without a contact to help him secure his final pay. However, matters were further complicated by the fact that all of the company contents had been destroyed in the fire.

Pictured: Four fire engines and an aerial ladder attended the fire at the time. (Sean Henstridge)

He sought help form the company secretary in January 2016. While she was aware Mr Evans had been an employee, she said she was unable to help him.

He subsequently wrote to the company shareholders, who he had identified online, in mid-January, but still didn’t receive his pay packet at the end of the month – the reason, they said, was that they hadn’t been aware he was ever employed at the boatyard. 

Without having been paid, Mr Evans decided to resign, and look for another job. But it took him five weeks to find one – and the pay was far lower than his St Aubin role, leaving him with more than £4,000 in losses.

Moreover, there was a problem in that the company hadn’t officially ‘dismissed’ him following the fire: even though there were no physical premises for him to work in, he was still officially an employee throughout January – and therefore entitled to be paid.

Despite branding it an “unusual case” given Mr Evans’ inability to work, the Tribunal found in Mr Evans’ favour, awarding him sums of £7,141.80 as compensation for unfair dismissal, £4,251.85 in damages for wrongful dismissal, £2,589 in unpaid wages and £238.06 for unpaid holiday pay.

Tribunal Chairman Mrs Hilary Griffin concluded: “The Applicant was not physically able to carry out his normal duties during January 2016 because his place of work had been destroyed. However, the Respondent… made no submission that the contract was frustrated by the fire and accepted that the Applicant remained as an employee until his resignation on 27 January 2016. The Applicant, having made himself available for work… was entitled to receive his monthly salary.”