Miss N Donovan (in person assisted by her sister Mrs Humphreys) For the v Respondent — 2019

Miss Donovan worked for the respondent from 23 November 2015 and later moved into the Business Development Lead role. Her unfair dismissal case relied on a series of workplace events, including the August 2018 role change, desk moves, a 30 January 2019 confidentiality discussion, the support provided for a 5 February 2019 radio interview, and her allegation that she had been bullied or otherwise poorly treated before resigning by text on 11 March 2019.

The tribunal found that the role change had been agreed to, that the first desk move was reasonable, and that the later desk and telephone arrangements were justified by business needs. It also found that there was not a bullying culture, that the confidentiality concern was investigated promptly and dealt with the same day, and that the claimant had been supported in relation to the radio interview and while off sick. On those findings, the respondent had reasonable and proper cause for what it did, there was no fundamental breach of contract or final straw, and the claimant's resignation was not caused by the alleged conduct. The unfair dismissal claim was therefore dismissed.

On the Working Time Regulations claim, the tribunal found that the claimant was entitled to a 30-minute unpaid lunch break and that staff were permitted to take breaks, but that breaks taken at the desk could be interrupted by telephone calls. Applying Regulation 12 and Regulation 30 of the Working Time Regulations 1998, and following the reasoning in the authorities cited, the tribunal held that the claimant did not know at the start of the break that it would be uninterrupted and that this amounted to a breach. It found the period of default ran from 23 November 2015 to 4 February 2019, held the claim was in time, and awarded £1,000 compensation, describing the effect as limited and the degree of default as low.