Mr G Allen v Elhance Ltd — 2021

The tribunal found that the claimant had been employed as operations manager since 5 October 2012 and that the disciplinary issue arose after he arranged a roofing job for a farmer, provided the contact details of subcontractors Gary Waite and Simon Woodford, and then attended the site when the work was under way. It found that Mr Waite was injured when he fell from the roof and that Mr Robinson suspended the claimant after concluding that the claimant had acted improperly in putting subcontractors on the site without a health and safety survey.

On the dismissal issue, the tribunal held that the claimant had contributed 80% to his dismissal. It accepted that Mr Robinson could have imposed a disciplinary sanction short of dismissal, but found that the relationship had been badly damaged by the events of 23 March 2020 and that the claimant would in any event have left within 3 months of the effective date of termination. The tribunal therefore applied Software 2000 Ltd v Andrews & others when limiting future loss to 12 weeks.

The tribunal also considered the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures 2015 and section 207A TULRCA 1992. It found that there had been an investigation, that the disciplinary letter set out the allegations and the right to be accompanied, that the claimant had a hearing, and that an appeal was heard by Mr Lawrie. It concluded that any non-compliance with the Code was not unreasonable and did not justify an uplift.

For remedy, the tribunal awarded a basic award of £1,129.80 and a compensatory award of £1,608.19 for the unfair dismissal, after applying the 80% contribution finding. It also awarded notice pay as breach of contract, and the final judgment order states a total award of £8,480.03. The claimant had claimed no state benefits, so recoupment did not apply.