Ms S Jenkins v Allen & Stone Ltd t/a Hunters — 2022

The claimant was appointed as a lettings manager on a salary of £30,000, signed her contract on 8 September 2021, and was due to start on 6 October 2021. The tribunal found that the first mention of a requirement for her to insure her company vehicle came in a WhatsApp message from Mr Allen on 5 October 2021. The claimant attempted to arrange insurance but encountered high upfront costs, and on the morning of 6 October she did not report for work while continuing to try to obtain a policy.

The tribunal accepted that, after the claimant failed to contact Mr Allen by a deadline he had set through the recruitment agency, Mr Allen withdrew the job offer on 6 October 2021. It found that the claimant had not clearly resigned and that her conduct was too ambiguous to amount to resignation. The withdrawal of the offer therefore amounted to a dismissal, not a resignation or constructive dismissal. However, the tribunal also found that the insurance request did not breach any express or implied term of the contract, including the implied term of trust and confidence.

On notice, the tribunal held that the claimant had less than one month’s service, so she had no statutory entitlement to notice under section 86 ERA 1996. Clause 3 of the contract provided that during the three-month probation period the employer could terminate employment without notice or compensation, as and where permitted by law. Clause 52 was treated as the general notice provision applying outside the probation period. The tribunal concluded that the respondent did not breach the contract by dismissing the claimant without notice pay, and the claim was dismissed.