£25,000 award for apprentice whose apprenticeship ended early

An employment tribunal awarded £25,000 for breach of contract to an employee whose apprenticeship ended early. In the case of Kinnear v Marley Eternit Ltd t/a Marley Contract Services, the employment tribunal awarded a roof tiler £25,000 over the breach of his contract of apprenticeship. Mr Kinnear became an apprentice roof tiler with Marley Eternit in October 2014. His contract of apprenticeship should have run until November 2018. In June 2016, he was advised that there had been a downturn in business and that his employment was being terminated on the basis of redundancy. His appeal against dismissal was rejected. Mr Kinnear brought a claim for breach of contract in an employment tribunal. The company did not enter a defence to the employment tribunal claim. In upholding Mr Kinnear’s claim, the tribunal noted that he had 122 weeks left to run on his apprenticeship. It assessed that he would have been paid £24,217 for the remainder of his apprenticeship. The tribunal acknowledged that the lack of a roofing qualification might disadvantage him in the labour market for a number of years to come.