An employment tribunal has ruled that a former pharmacy worker was unfairly dismissed by her employer and has been awarded almost £10,000 as a result.
D Wasilewska, who used to work for Guide Pharmacy Annan in Scotland, was dismissed without notice last November, under what the pharmacy claimed was a breach of contract.
The tribunal heard that a copy of a claim form was sent to the pharmacy in February. It was required to enter a response within 28 days of the claim being sent, but failed to do so, however it argued that it did not receive the claim due to an administrative error.
Furthermore, the pharmacy did not pay for Wasilewska’s holiday entitlement, made an unauthorised deduction of £373.60 from her wages for statutory sick pay and paid her £5,396.55 less than she was legally entitled to from her bonus.
The tribunal ordered the pharmacy to pay Wasilewska a total award of £2,653.98 for being unfairly dismissed, which includes a basic award of two weeks’ pay at £1,015.50 and a further £1,638.48 as a compensatory award. It also has to pay an additional £5,770.15 for the unauthorised deduction claim and £1,462.32 for failing to pay her holiday entitlement.
No award has been made in respect of the breach of contract and without notice claim, as the loss of wages have been compensated as part of the unfair dismissal claim.
Employment Judge P O’Donnell said: “In the absence of any response from the respondent, there was no basis on which the tribunal could conclude that there was a potentially fair reason for dismissal. In respect of the remaining 10 claims, there was nothing to dispute the sums sought by the claimant.
“The claimant has sought £500 in respect of loss of statutory rights. The tribunal considers that this sum is appropriate given her length of service, the statutory rights she would have acquired and how long it would take her to acquire similar rights in a new job.”
Guide Pharmacy Annan was contacted for comment prior to publication. It has applied for the judgement to be reconsidered.
