Gordon Sackett v ISS Mediclean Ltd t/a ISS Facility Services — 2021

Mr Sackett had worked for Carillion since 2013 as facilities manager for Land Registry sites. After the Respondent took over the contract in March 2018, he was paid £35,600. In early 2020 Mr Murphy reorganised the business and told Mr Sackett that his role was at risk of redundancy, while inviting him to apply for Regional Facilities Manager South West. The tribunal found that the Weymouth site had only been added back into the portfolio, that the geography was otherwise unchanged, and that the salary range for the new role included Mr Sackett's salary.

Applying s.98(4) ERA 1996, the tribunal held that the dismissal was not in truth a redundancy because the Respondent's need for someone to do Mr Sackett's work had not ceased or diminished. It found there was no evidence of a materially different requirement for budgetary expertise or client management, and no evidence that suitable alternative employment had been actively sought. The appeal was also found unfair: after the appeal hearing Mr Brooks spoke to Mr Murphy and relied on a briefing note and information not put to Mr Sackett, which affected the outcome. The tribunal described the dismissal as a disguised capability dismissal rather than a redundancy.

On remedy, the tribunal rejected Mr Sackett's broader revised schedule of loss and found no basis for injury to feelings or distress. It held that the basic award was extinguished by the redundancy payment and limited compensation to the period before he found other employment, together with a conventional sum for loss of statutory industrial rights. The ordered payment was £2,554.34.