Ms S Davies v Natural Resources Wales HELD: Via CVP — 2021

This was a preliminary hearing on whether the tribunal had jurisdiction to hear Ms Davies's breach of contract claim concerning the Civil Service Compensation Scheme and the Civil Service Management Code. The tribunal held that, taking the claimant's case at its highest, the wording of clause 2 of her contract and the Code was potentially apt for incorporation as contractual terms. It accepted that the claimant was alleging a contractual obligation to follow the specified process for deciding whether compensation should be paid after an inefficiency dismissal and, if so, how much.

The tribunal rejected the respondent's submission that the claim was merely contingent or that it fell outside the statutory jurisdiction because no payment was yet due. It held that the alleged breach occurred when the claimant was dismissed on grounds of inefficiency without the respondent going through the compensation decision-making process required by the contractual materials relied on. It distinguished Miller Bros & FP Butler Ltd v Johnston and Peninsula Business Services Ltd v Sweeney on the facts, and treated Keeley v Fosroc International and Horkulak v Cantor Fitzgerald International as supporting the claimant's argument that discretionary or unquantified remuneration terms may still be contractual.

The tribunal also held that the claim was not excluded by article 5 of the 1994 Order and refused the respondent's alternative strike-out application under rule 37(1)(a) on the basis that the claim had reasonable prospects of success. The judgment is limited to jurisdiction and case management; it does not determine whether the claimant will succeed at the final hearing or what, if any, compensation would ultimately be payable.