Ms N Hanson v Interaction Recruitment Specialists Ltd — 2024

Ms N Hanson transferred with Hamilton Mayday's business to Interaction Recruitment Specialists Ltd under TUPE and was employed as Northern Regional Operations Manager on a salary of £31,500, with a car allowance of £350 per month, private health insurance and a contractual sick pay provision of three weeks on full pay followed by three weeks on half pay. The tribunal found that Mr Gilchrist, the respondent's owner and director, formed an adverse view of her after meetings on 20 and 26 September 2023 without any proper discussion of her work pattern or workload.

On 26 September 2023, the tribunal found that Mr Gilchrist ignored the Claimant when she arrived at the branch, told her that if she did not want to be there she should leave, and then emailed her two direct reports to give them pay rises without first discussing that with her. It also found that he later emailed a direct report saying it was "good to see" the Claimant "getting stuck in". The tribunal held that, taken together and without reasonable or proper cause, those acts were calculated or likely to destroy or seriously damage mutual trust and confidence. It found that the Claimant resigned in response to that breach on 2 October 2023 and was therefore constructively and unfairly dismissed.

The tribunal accepted that the Claimant was genuinely unwell with anxiety during her notice period and that the sickness absence was caused by the events at work. It held that she was contractually entitled to the first three weeks of sickness absence on full pay and the next three weeks on half pay, including the fixed car allowance, and that the employer made unlawful deductions by withholding those sums on 27 October 2023 and 28 November 2023. It rejected the bonus element because the bonus was agreed month by month and was not quantifiable for the purposes of an unlawful deduction claim, and it rejected the health insurance element because that was a benefit in kind rather than wages.

The tribunal separately upheld the complaint that 4 days' accrued holiday pay remained unpaid on termination. It recorded that the basic award, compensatory award, wages and accrued holiday pay would be determined at a separate remedy hearing, so no monetary award was fixed in this judgment.