A Royal British Legion Scotland branch must pay a former employee more than £21,000 for unfair dismissal after he raised health and safety concerns at his workplace, an employment tribunal has ruled.

James Scott Berrie, formerly of the Royal British Legion Scotland Arbroath and District Branch, was awarded £21,039 after a remedy hearing in Dundee on 3 September.

The tribunal found that Berrie was unfairly dismissed for whistleblowing, the charity made unauthorised wage deductions and failed to provide a statement on employment changes.

Berrie worked for the charity as a doorman and assistant bar manager between 2009 and 2023, working 20 hours a week on average.

He raised concerns about the bar manager relating to health and safety, such as tables and stacks of chairs left blocking exits being a fire safety risk.

Berrie identified other items as trip hazards which were of particular risk to customers, some of whom were partly sighted, the judgment says.

These concerns were put forward to chair David Findlay and later to new chair Lisa Robb but the claimant was suspended on 14 September 2023 on bullying and harassment allegations.

Berrie went on a three-week holiday and returned on 12 October to attend a pre-hearing meeting.

He raised a grievance with the charity on the same day but received no response, the judgment says.

On 15 October, Berrie received a letter and was told at a meeting with Robb that he was to receive a six-month written warning relating to an alleged health and safety matter but the bullying and harassment allegations had been dropped.

The claimant wrote a resignation letter on 18 October terminating his employment immediately on the basis of what he considered a “material breach of contract” by the charity.

“He stated that he believed that he had suffered detriment due to ‘whistleblowing’,” the judgment says.

The charity provided a statement of particulars when he began his employment but did not provide a further statement when his role changed from door security to assistant bar manager in 2016.

This meant Berrie did not receive information on pay increases and he was paid the national minimum wage.

“The claimant did not receive payment for working on 14 and 15 October 2023,” the judgment says.

“He was upset by the events leading to the termination of his employment.”

Berrie started early conciliation on 19 October 2023 and was issued a certificate on 30 November.

The claimant was awarded a basic sum of £3,641 plus £6,798 in compensation for unfair dismissal and a further £10,000 for injury to feelings.

A further £485 was awarded to Berrie for the charity not providing a statement of changes to particulars of employment and the claimant received a £115 payment for unauthorised deduction from wages.

Nobody from the Royal British Legion Scotland or the individual branch responded to requests for comment.