Mrs P Timlin v Synergy (GB) Ltd — 2022

Mrs Timlin brought claims for unfair dismissal, statutory redundancy pay, breach of contract / wrongful dismissal, and unpaid holiday pay under regulation 14 of the Working Time Regulations 1998. The tribunal accepted that she had worked for Synergy since 2013, was furloughed in March 2020, returned to the office in August 2020, and was then put back on furlough. It found that the August 2020 conversation and return to furlough did not amount to a dismissal, because in context both parties understood that the employment relationship continued.

On the later events, the tribunal found that stopping furlough payments in April 2021, and the subsequent delay in contacting Mrs Timlin, did not communicate a dismissal. In the June 2021 correspondence, Mr Taylor continued to say that she remained employed and should return to work. The tribunal held that Synergy had not directly dismissed her. It also held that Mrs Timlin resigned in her 15 June 2021 email by making clear that she regarded the employment as ended and would not return, but that the resignation was not a constructive dismissal because there was no repudiatory breach of contract.

The tribunal rejected the suggested breaches relied on for constructive dismissal. It found that the cessation of furlough payments in May 2021 was not, on its findings, a breach because Mrs Timlin was not ready, willing and able to perform the work required and had taken other work. It also found that Mr Taylor's failure to make more active efforts to contact her before June 2021 did not breach the implied term of trust and confidence. For those reasons, the unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal, and statutory redundancy pay claims were dismissed.

The holiday pay claim succeeded. The tribunal found that 20 days of 2020 annual leave carried over under regulation 13(10) because of the effects of coronavirus, and that Mrs Timlin was also entitled to a pro-rated payment for 2021 up to the end of employment on 15 June 2021. Using a daily rate of £69.23, it calculated £1,384.60 for the carried-over 2020 leave and £879.22 for 2021 leave, making a total award of £2,263.82.