In Person For the v Mr C Rebbeck (Managing Director) — 2021

Ms Fiona Tsang, a solicitor, was employed by HRS Family Law Solicitors Limited from 23 March 2020 and dismissed summarily on 12 October 2020 after being told to move from the Dudley office to Walsall. The respondent said she was dismissed for gross misconduct and was not entitled to notice pay; the claimant sought notice pay, holiday-related sums, pension contributions and bonus-related sums.

Employment Judge Gaskell held that the respondent had a contractual right to require an employee to work at another office, but that the contract also implied proper consultation and consideration of the employee’s concerns before that right was enforced. The claimant had attended the Dudley office on 12 October 2020 and continued working, and when she explained that she was upset by the earlier telephone conversation and wanted to continue the discussion by email, the tribunal found that her conduct did not amount to a fundamental or repudiatory breach of contract. The tribunal said that if the respondent wanted to dismiss her that day, it needed to do so with full contractual notice.

The tribunal therefore upheld the wrongful dismissal claim and awarded £6,075 net. The award comprised £4,048 unpaid notice pay, £625 loss of holiday pay during the notice period, £187 loss of pension contributions, and a £1,215 uplift under section 207A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 because the respondent had failed to deal with the matter in accordance with the ACAS Code. The tribunal rejected the bonus claim, found no adverse finding on mitigation because the respondent had not proved a failure to mitigate, and made no award for holiday pay said to have accrued before dismissal because the evidence on that issue was too vague.