Case 1600983/2019 · Employment Tribunal
Ms Tracey Wahlberg and Others v Virgin Media Limited — 2020
- Case reference
- 1600983/2019
- Decision date
- 21 December 2020
- Jurisdiction
- England & Wales
- Judge
- Employment Judge Jenkins
- Venue
- by Video Link
Parties
2 namedClaimant
Ms Tracey Wahlberg and Others
Respondent
Key findings
Tribunal's reasoningThe claimants had worked originally for Cable & Wireless Communications and later for Virgin Media. Their employment ended by reason of redundancy and redundancy payments were made, but they contended that their contracts incorporated enhanced redundancy terms from Cable & Wireless, including a more generous formula than the statutory scheme.
The tribunal found that Cable & Wireless probably did have a redundancy policy at the relevant time, and that the available contemporaneous documents indicated a policy using two weeks' pensionable pay for each year of continuous employment, inclusive of statutory redundancy pay. However, the tribunal did not find evidence supporting the more generous formula pleaded by the claimants.
The tribunal concluded that the written contracts set out the whole of the claimants' contractual terms, did not refer to or incorporate a redundancy policy, and contained wording stating that the agreement formed the sole basis of contractual relations except rights and obligations implied by law. The redundancy policy was therefore not incorporated into the claimants' contracts and was not proved to be contractual in nature.
Claims and outcomes
3 findings recorded| Claim type | Issue or finding | Outcome | Protected characteristic | Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breach of contract | The preliminary issue was whether the claimants' contracts included an entitlement to enhanced redundancy benefits. The tribunal found no contractual entitlement. | Dismissed | — | — |
| Redundancy | The tribunal found Cable & Wireless had a redundancy policy, likely providing two weeks' pensionable pay per year of service, but that it was not incorporated into the claimants' contracts. Statutory redundancy payments had already been made. | Dismissed | — | — |
| Unlawful deduction from wages | To the extent the pleaded claim depended on an alleged contractual shortfall in redundancy payments, the tribunal found the asserted contractual entitlement was not established. | Dismissed | — | — |
Legal tests applied
5 references- Park Cakes Ltd v Shumba & others [2013] EWCA Civ 974
- Keeley v Fosroc International Ltd [2006] IRLR 961
- Alexander & others v Standard Telephones and Cables Limited (No.2) IRLR 286
- civil burden of proof
- balance of probabilities
Official outcome judgment PDF
Gov.uk primary recordThe official judgment PDF on gov.uk contains the tribunal's outcome, reasoning, and any remedy details. Where this page does not yet show extracted outcomes for every claim, use the PDF as the authoritative source.
Published on gov.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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