K Hrabovsky v Marenka Limited — 2021

The claimant had worked for the respondent since 2012 as a kitchen porter/prep chef and there was no written contract of employment. At a disagreement on 15 March 2020, the tribunal found that he said "I quit!" and later that same day confirmed to the owners that he had meant to resign. The tribunal accepted that he did not communicate any retraction of that resignation, either orally or in writing, before later correspondence in April 2020.

The tribunal considered whether the resignation was immediate or with notice. It found that both sides understood there was a notice period: the respondent had drafted a letter referring to four weeks' notice, the claimant continued to send fit notes, and the tribunal concluded that a reasonable notice period in the circumstances was six weeks. Applying that notice period, the tribunal found that the employment ended on 26 April 2020, not on 15 March 2020 or 6 April 2020.

On that basis, the unfair dismissal claim failed because the claimant had resigned rather than been dismissed. The tribunal also referred to the respondent's emails of 22 and 28 April 2020 asking whether he intended to resign and saying he would be processed as a leaver if no response was received; it found that the claimant did not use those opportunities to say he wished to stay employed.

The tribunal further held, at this preliminary hearing, that the breach of contract and unlawful deduction from wages claims were presented in time and could proceed. It did not decide those claims on their merits, and no monetary remedy was awarded in this judgment.