Mr M Todd (Counsel) For the v Ms D Ajibade (legal representative) — 2023

The tribunal found that both claimants were employed by Moortown CStore Ltd after TUPE from the Co-operative Group and that the Moortown Post Office Store closed on 9 September 2022. It held that the First Respondent dismissed both claimants on 14 September 2022 when it stopped pay after that meeting and required them to move into materially different retail roles with a new employer or new contract; if that were wrong, the tribunal said they would have been constructively dismissed on the same date because of the stopping of pay, the imposition of new roles, the requirement that the First Claimant move to more distant premises, and the resulting breach of trust and confidence.

On redundancy, the tribunal accepted that there was a genuine redundancy situation but held that the First Respondent had not shown the alternative roles were suitable or that refusal was unreasonable. It found the offered customer-service and supervisor roles differed materially from the claimants' Post Office work in content, status, training, and knowledge requirements, and that the offer was not sufficiently clear or timely. The identity of the new employer was still not confirmed by 14 September 2022. The tribunal therefore held that both claimants were entitled to statutory redundancy pay, agreed at £5,894.30 for Miss Newton and £4,674 for Miss Peel.

On notice pay, the tribunal awarded gross sums of £186.60 to Miss Newton and £338.30 to Miss Peel after taking mitigation into account. It also found that the First Respondent had failed to provide written statements of employment particulars or particulars of change, and made the minimum award of two weeks' pay to each claimant under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002, namely £655.30 and £473.08. It did not award four weeks' pay. The total awards were £6,736.20 for Miss Newton and £5,485.38 for Miss Peel, and the claims against the Second Respondent were dismissed on withdrawal.