Mr M Hussein v Compass Group UK & Ireland Ltd — 2021

The Claimant was dismissed after the Respondent's client requested that he be removed from the school site. The tribunal found that the principal reason for dismissal was some other substantial reason and that this was a potentially fair reason. It rejected the Claimant's suggestion that there was another reason connected with his complaints about pay or a conspiracy by his manager, finding that the client had its own reasons for requesting removal and that no information about the disciplinary process had been leaked to the client.

The tribunal accepted that there was injustice to the Claimant because the client sought his removal without performance improvement procedures having been put in place. It found, however, that the Respondent made efforts to mitigate that injustice, including trying to persuade the client not to remove him, extending notice, maintaining contact with the Claimant, encouraging use of the job portal, and arranging an interview. The tribunal also found that the Claimant did not greatly assist the redeployment process. Viewed objectively, the Respondent acted within the range of reasonable responses, so the unfair dismissal claim was dismissed.

On holiday pay, the tribunal found that the Claimant had taken 13 days' holiday and had been paid for 8 bank holidays, leaving 7 days before pro-rating for his termination before the end of the leave year. The pro rata balance was 3.23 days, and the Claimant accepted he had been paid 31.3 hours, equivalent to 3.7 days, on termination. Later oral assertions about earlier holiday and a worked bank holiday were not proven, so the holiday pay claim was dismissed.