Mr G Badby v Aura Heritage Limited — 2023

Mr G Badby was employed by Aura Heritage Limited as a Project Manager from 4 May 2021 under a contract providing 3 months' notice after probation. The tribunal found that concerns about his timekeeping had been raised in June 2022 and again in November 2022, and that on 14 November 2022 the respondent wrote terminating his employment on 3 months' notice while also alleging that he and others had been paid for hours not worked.

The key events were the telephone discussion on 25 November 2022 and the contemporaneous letters exchanged that day. The tribunal accepted the respondent's account that the claimant initiated the call and that, when faced with the prospect of receiving only statutory sick pay during his notice period and aware of the respondent's potential contract claim, he offered to resign in return for being paid for November and for the respondent not pursuing any alleged sums owed. The claimant's resignation email, the respondent's letter accepting resignation with final pay to 30 November 2022, and the absence of any immediate objection were relied on as consistent with that account.

The tribunal rejected the claimant's case that he agreed under duress. It found his explanation inconsistent and unsupported by the contemporaneous documents, and concluded that there had been a valid agreement to vary the notice position. On that basis the claimant's breach of contract claim for further notice pay failed and was dismissed, with no damages awarded.

Because the tribunal found that the parties had agreed that the respondent would not pursue the claimant for the alleged sums, it held that the respondent's employer contract claim was not outstanding when the employment ended. The tribunal therefore dismissed the respondent's claim for £8,014.55 without making any award of damages.