Tesco is facing a claim for more than £500,000 from Mandate because of its alleged failure to give employees written contracts of employment. The case is to be heard today by the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
Under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994, employees are entitled to written contracts with details of working conditions. A Mandate official, Mr Brendan Archbold, said yesterday the union had made repeated requests for contracts on behalf of more than 1,400 members in Tesco.
He said the union recognised there might be administrative problems about issuing all of the contracts immediately and it was prepared to facilitate the company in any reasonable arrangement. However, its members were not prepared to forgo their right to basic information about working hours, sick pay, holiday leave and other entitlements.
The case was referred by Mandate to a rights commissioner, who rejected the union request. This has been appealed to the tribunal.
The tribunal can award up to four weeks' pay to individual employees where a company fails to comply with the 1994 Act. If Mandate wins, it could cost Tesco more than £500,000. There was no comment available from Tesco last night.