Mr Fiaz Shah v POD Group Services Ltd — 2023

Mr Shah transferred from Lee Baron to POD Group Services Ltd on 1 January 2023. He said that, before and after the transfer, he was told his overtime pay, sick pay and holiday entitlement would be cut, and that he resigned on 4 January 2023 because of those changes. The respondent denied that any such cuts were made. A strike-out application was made at the hearing, but Employment Judge Shukla rejected it and heard evidence from the claimant and the respondent's witnesses.

The tribunal preferred Ms Horwitz's evidence about the 5 December 2022 meeting. It found that she did not announce cuts to overtime, sick pay or holiday entitlement. The written measures letter sent on 28 November 2022 stated that, apart from the matters identified in the letter, terms and conditions remained in place; it also said holiday allowance would be 28 paid days from 1 January 2023 and that bank holidays would be treated as normal working days. The tribunal found Mr Shah either did not read that letter or did not apply his mind to it.

On holiday, the tribunal held that Mr Shah remained entitled to 28 days' paid leave after the transfer, including a day off in lieu if he worked on a bank holiday. On overtime, it found he continued to be entitled to £185 per overtime shift, and attached little weight to WhatsApp messages relied on by the claimant because they did not show what was said at the meeting or when any change occurred. On sick pay, the tribunal accepted the respondent's evidence that transferred employees retained their previous entitlement and that Mr Shah was not told at the meeting that sick pay would be cut.

Because the tribunal found there were no cuts to overtime, sick pay or holiday entitlement, it concluded that the respondent had not breached the claimant's contract in the manner alleged. The unfair dismissal claim was therefore dismissed, and the TUPE complaint was also dismissed. The judgment records no award of compensation or other remedy.