Mr B Ardron Sharpe v Todds Office Solutions Limited — 2022

The claimant, Mr B Ardron Sharpe, worked for Todds Office Solutions Limited as an Installation Technician from 1 March 2021 until 23 August 2021 under a written contract with a one month notice clause and a payment in lieu of notice provision. The dispute turned on whether the claimant resigned or whether the respondent terminated the contract. The claimant hand-delivered a resignation letter on 20 August 2021 giving four weeks' notice and proposing to take 10 days' annual leave as the final two weeks of that notice period, but the respondent then sent a letter on 23 August 2021 stating that his contract had been terminated on that date.

The tribunal found that the respondent, not the claimant, terminated the contract by the 23 August 2021 letter. It held that the resignation letter did not itself end the employment immediately, that the respondent's letter was effective notice served in accordance with the contract, and that events after termination could not reduce the contractual entitlement to payment in lieu of notice. The judge said the claimant was entitled to one month's PILON under clause 14.1, and corrected the provisional oral view that had taken account of the claimant's post-termination illness.

The overtime claim was dismissed. Clause 5 of the contract required additional hours to be necessary for the proper performance of duties and stated that further remuneration would not be paid unless previously agreed. The tribunal accepted that the claimant had worked overtime at times, but found not all of the overtime claimed had been authorised and was not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the full amount claimed had been worked or legitimately claimed.

The holiday pay claim was also dismissed. Clause 10.5 allowed accrued but unused holiday to be taken during the notice period, and the tribunal found that this was the arrangement the claimant had proposed in his resignation letter. It concluded that any outstanding holiday was taken during the period covered by the payment in lieu of notice, so allowing a separate award would result in double recovery. The respondent was ordered to pay £1,884.57 gross, subject to the usual PAYE deductions.