Dean Blanch v Synapsia Ltd (in creditors’ voluntary liquidation) — 2022

Mr Blanch had worked for Synapsia Ltd for a little over eight years, on £1,000 basic pay plus commission that took his average monthly earnings to £2,881. After the first lockdown, schools remained closed for most of the relevant period, Mr Thwaites was furloughed, and when Mr Blanch returned to work in late August 2020 the relationship deteriorated over how sales calls should be made. The tribunal found that the initial dismissal on 3 September 2020, the later purported resignation, and the later conduct dismissal were all pretexts.

The tribunal found that the real reason for dismissal was redundancy driven by the respondent's financial position during Covid, with Mr Thwaites deciding that Mr Blanch had to go and that his work would be done by Mr Thwaites's wife. No other salesperson was recruited, and Mrs Thwaites took over Mr Blanch's client book. On that basis the tribunal awarded a statutory redundancy payment of £5,318.77, a compensatory award of £1,329.69, notice pay of £5,318.77, and a further £1,329.69 under s93 ERA 1996 for failure to give written reasons for dismissal.

The claimant's holiday pay claim was dismissed because he accepted that the holiday year ran with the school year and he had been dismissed at the beginning of September, leaving no holiday entitlement to pay out. The unpaid wages and commission claim was also dismissed because the commission entitlement was not clearly calculated and the burden of proof remained on the claimant. The order records a total of £12,099.92, although the itemised awards in the judgment sum to £13,296.92.