In person, assisted by his father Mr P Browning For the v Respondent — 2023

Mr Peter Browning worked for the respondent at its Plymouth depot from 1 November 2006 and resigned on 4 August 2022, with employment ending on 12 August 2022. He claimed that he had been unfairly constructively dismissed. The tribunal identified three matters relied on by the claimant: his performance review gradings, the proposed change to manager rota patterns and the handling of the collective grievance, and the failure to offer him an NTA driver role.

On the performance reviews, the tribunal accepted that the claimant had previously often been graded Exceeding, but found that Mr Whitehouse’s Achieving grade in July 2021 and again in January 2022 was not capricious or unreasonable. The decision had been reached through a calibration process, with positive comments about the claimant’s work but also concerns about his communication style and refresher training. The tribunal found no fundamental breach of the implied term of trust and confidence in relation to the appraisal grades.

On the rota issue, the tribunal found that Mr Whitehouse was reviewing the depot shift patterns for a sensible operational reason and was seeking agreement to a possible amendment, not imposing a change. No rota change was ever implemented. The collective grievance raised in September 2021 was not formally heard, but the tribunal found it was not ignored: there was a mediation meeting on 12 October 2021 and later written confirmation that no shift pattern changes would occur without formal consultation and engagement with USDAW. The tribunal held that this did not amount to a fundamental breach.

On the NTA driver role, the tribunal found that the claimant wanted a 48-hour Monday to Friday NTA post starting at 9 a.m., but no such vacancy existed. The new NTA appointment made in January 2022 was for a 40-hour week, and the claimant did not apply for that role. The tribunal also found that, even if there had been any arguable breach earlier, the claimant affirmed the contract by continuing to work for about seven months and resigned only after receiving a conditional offer of alternative employment. The claim for unfair constructive dismissal was therefore dismissed.