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.
Background:
The claimant is employed by the respondent as a doorman. His claim centred upon discrimination, failure to provide itemised pay, unlawful deduction from wages when he was furloughed and that his wages did not reflect an increase in the National Minimum Wage. All claims except the failure to provide itemised pay were withdrawn at hearing.
The claimant stated that when the previous Secretary, Mr McNutt, was in position he gave the wage slips to all employees by hand. The current Secretary/Manager, Mr Jameson, left them in an envelope on a table for collection. The claimant argued that this did not comply with Article 40 of the Employment Rights (NI) Order 1996 which states that the employee is entitled to be given an itemised pay slip. The claimant states he did not have access to the office where the pay slips were set out.
Mr Jameson, giving evidence for the respondent, stated that he had followed his predecessor’s practice of leaving the payslips in such a manner and the claimant did have access to the office.
Outcome:
The Tribunal found the claimant to have a casual, if not cavalier, attitude to the Tribunal process through the manner in which his claims were brought and withdrawn. They also found his evidence to be argumentative. On the other hand, they found the evidence of the respondent to be given calmly and honestly. Accordingly, they accepted the respondent’s evidence that the pay slips were made available as they had by the Secretary/Manager’s predecessor therefore complying with Article 40 of the 1996 Order.
Practical Guidance for Employers:
A case with burgeoning claims eventually centred on a narrow piece of law and practice – that being the provision of pay slips. The fact that Article 40 of the 1996 Order states that the employee must be given their payslips does not mean that they have tobe physically handed them which is a welcome relief considering that many employers have moved to an electronic system of providing payslips.
NI Tribunal decisions are available on the OITFET website:
http://www.employmenttribunalsni.co.uk/
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