Z v A Ltd — 2025

The Tribunal (Employment Judge Deeley sitting with Mr Brewer and Ms Lancaster) determined remedy following its earlier Reserved Liability Judgment, which had found that the claimant Z was unfairly (constructively) dismissed by the respondent A Ltd under s.98 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The Tribunal had previously concluded that conduct by the respondent's owner/Managing Director (Y) breached the implied term of trust and confidence between the respondent and the claimant, and that the claimant resigned because he concluded it was untenable for him to continue working for the respondent. The respondent was vicariously liable for Y's conduct and did not raise any issue of contributory conduct.

On remedy, the Tribunal assessed past losses from the claimant's resignation on 9 November 2021 through to the remedy hearing on 14 July 2025, plus a period of future loss to 13 July 2026, based on a net weekly pay figure of £398.31. The Tribunal considered the claimant's mitigation, accepting that he started self-employed labouring work for his father-in-law (SS) in February 2022 (paid via Mitchell & Urwin under the Construction Industry Scheme), then later worked for another individual referred to as J on an ad hoc basis. The Tribunal also added £500 for loss of statutory rights.

The basic award was calculated at £11,020.09 (24 years' service, multiplier 23.5). The gross compensatory loss came to £33,865.22 but was capped by the statutory cap of £25,116.52 (52 x (£468.94 gross weekly pay + £14.07 weekly employer pension contribution)). No gross-up for tax was applied because the net compensatory award was already at the cap. The total unfair dismissal award was therefore £36,136.61, and the Recoupment provisions apply.