An Industrial Tribunal in Northern Ireland has ruled in favour of a construction worker who was left without redundancy pay, notice pay, or outstanding holiday pay following the termination of his employment. Samuel Balmer brought claims against his former employer, Merex Construction Limited, and the tribunal found all three claims to be well-founded.

The tribunal ordered Merex Construction to pay Balmer a total of £34,631 across the three heads of claim. This comprises £22,470 in statutory redundancy pay, £10,350 in notice pay, and £1,811 in outstanding holiday pay.

Balmer was 64 years old at the date of his dismissal and had completed 42 years of actual service with the company, though statutory rules cap qualifying service at 20 years for redundancy calculation purposes. His gross weekly pay was £862.50, capped at the statutory maximum of £749 for redundancy purposes. A multiplier of 1.5 applied, reflecting his age bracket under the statutory redundancy formula.

The judgment, issued by Employment Judge L Sturgeon on 9 March 2026, was based on uncontested facts. The case reference is 31226/25IT. The Department for the Economy was listed as a notice party in the proceedings.

The decision is a relevant decision for the purposes of the Industrial Tribunals (Interest) Order (Northern Ireland) 1990, meaning statutory interest provisions apply to the sums awarded.