A CHEF who wasn’t given a pay rise for ten years has won an employment tribunal after taking his former employer to court.

Bosses at Cygnet Hospital Colchester failed to review Michael Jones’ salary after he started working at the hospital in Boxted Road, Mile End, in 2010.

An employment judge ruled the care provider had been in breach of contract after a four-day hearing at the East London Hearing Centre in December and January.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service documents published this week reveal the 77-year-old, who worked as a head chef and manager at the hospital, was paid up to £11,500 a year less than some colleagues in the same role at the company’s other sites.

Gazette: Cook - Michael Jones was a chef at Cygnet Hospital ColchesterCook - Michael Jones was a chef at Cygnet Hospital Colchester (Image: Unsplash)

Some employees in similar roles across the company, however, were paid less than Mr Jones, who formally raised the issue of a lack of a pay rise three times in six years.

Despite being entitled to an annual pay review, the worker’s salary was never reviewed because the company wrongly recorded him on its system as an hourly paid chef and not a salaried head chef.

A HR manager told the tribunal the average annual pay rise for salaried employees in the period Mr Jones worked for the company was between 1.5 and two per cent.

Mr Jones resigned from his role with immediate effect in July 2021.

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'Devastating'

The employment judge ruled he was constructively dismissed because of a breach of contract and ordered Cygnet to pay their ex-chef his notice pay.

Gazette: Lockdown - Boris Johnson told the country to stay at home in March 2020Lockdown - Boris Johnson told the country to stay at home in March 2020 (Image: PA)

In his resignation, Mr Jones wrote: “This has been devastating for me after ten years in a job that I had previously loved and been proud of.”

He claimed he had fallen victim to age discrimination because of how he was treated by the company during the coronavirus pandemic, but the judge dismissed these claims.

After former Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the public to stay at home in March 2020, Mr Jones stopped working because he felt his age made him vulnerable despite the company’s policy not making him automatically eligible for the furlough scheme.

Cygnet declined to comment.