Mr T Holloway v Aura Gas Ltd — 2020

The tribunal upheld Mr Holloway's complaint under section 23 ERA 1996 about unpaid travel-time wages. It found that his contract provided for a 45-hour week, an unpaid half-hour lunch break each day, and overtime above that level, and it rejected Aura Gas Ltd's case that there was an implied term excluding pay for the first hour of travel to and from work each day. The tribunal held that the employer had not established the alleged term by business efficacy, custom and practice, conduct of the parties, or obviousness, and that the evidence on the supposed travel-time arrangement was inconsistent.

The tribunal awarded £6,373.60 gross for unpaid travel-time wages within the two-year limitation period. It found that the Working Time Regulations point did not alter the contractual wage analysis, and that the claimant had raised the travel-pay issue after learning in October 2018 that the company was treating up to two hours of daily travel as unpaid.

The tribunal also upheld the unfair constructive dismissal claim under section 95(1)(c) ERA 1996. It found that the principal reason for resignation was the travel-pay dispute, which amounted to a fundamental breach of contract and of the implied term of trust and confidence. The tribunal also accepted that the working-time issue contributed to the resignation and that the disciplinary investigation was, to that extent, prompted by Mr Holloway's stance on travel pay, but it found no breach in relation to the bullying and health-and-safety allegations and rejected the suggestion that he resigned because he had found another job.

On remedy, the tribunal awarded unfair dismissal compensation of £3,502.60, made up of a £1,837.50 basic award and a £1,665.10 compensatory award. The compensatory award reflected the recoverable part of the course-fee repayment that Mr Holloway had made on leaving; the remaining £1,032 was not recoverable. The tribunal separately upheld wrongful dismissal and awarded £2,058.48 by way of notice pay.