Mr. J Wilson v Mediaworks UK Limited — 2020

The tribunal dismissed Mr Wilson's claims for breach of contract (notice pay), unlawful deduction from wages, and holiday pay. It found that his contract did not contain a garden leave clause and that there was no written or oral collateral agreement placing him on garden leave when he resigned on 2 December 2019.

Instead, the tribunal accepted Mediaworks' evidence that Mr Wilson was required to work his notice from home on outstanding projects, including Hive, Efes and an internal HR app. It relied on contemporaneous emails from Mr Tuck on 2 and 4 December 2019 and texts from Mr Blenkinsop on 5 and 11 December 2019, which it said showed that Mr Wilson was expected to work and that the issues were his failure to respond and complete the agreed work. It also found that Mr Wilson had not produced the handover note he said he had been required to prepare.

The tribunal noted that Mr Wilson admitted in cross-examination that he had not told Mr Tuck the truth when he said he was working on Hive. It held that, by failing to perform the work requested during his notice period, he was neither ready nor willing to work and had provided no consideration for wages. Applying the principles it cited on mutuality of obligation, it concluded that there was no unlawful deduction from wages and that Mr Wilson had been in repudiatory or fundamental breach of contract.

On that basis, the tribunal held that Mediaworks was entitled to summarily dismiss Mr Wilson under clause 9.3 of the contract. The letter of 13 December 2019 confirmed termination with immediate effect and stated that the final salary calculation covered 1 to 4 December 2019, including the 2-day accrued holiday entitlement. The judgment dismisses the holiday pay claim without a separate monetary award.