First COVID-19 Related Employment Tribunal Judgment In Jersey

The latest judgment from the Jersey Employment and Discrimination Tribunal is believed to be the first employment decision relating to the restrictions imposed on businesses in Jersey due to COVID-19.

The employer, PG Plumbing (2014) Limited, closed for a period during the Coronavirus lockdown and staff were temporarily laid off.

The claimant, William Hague-Holmes, was not paid his wages during that period. The employer said that it would have paid the claimant if the business had received a government wage subsidy. However, the employer had misunderstood the Government of Jersey's Covid-19 payroll co-funding scheme, believing that wages would only be funded for employees earning more than £2000.00 per month. The employer realised the error too late and the wage subsidy application by the employer was rejected. The Tribunal said: