Ioan Petrescu v Gastro Pubs Ltd — 2021

Mr Petrescu worked for Gastro Pubs Ltd from 21 November 2018 to 10 July 2020, when he was dismissed. The tribunal recorded that he had been paid the correct amount of one week's pay in lieu of notice. His unfair dismissal claim was dismissed because he had not completed two years' service and had advanced no basis for bringing the claim within an exception, so the tribunal said it had no jurisdiction under s.108(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996.

The tribunal then considered Mr Petrescu's bonus claim. His contract contained a bonus provision expressed to be discretionary, not contractual, and the 2019/2020 bonus scheme was also stated to be discretionary and payable only to people still in employment. He said he met the drinks and labour targets; the respondent accepted that the drinks target was met but said the labour target was narrowly missed. The tribunal said the claim would fail whether or not the targets were met.

The tribunal accepted evidence that the Covid-19 lockdown starting in late March 2020, and the restrictions that followed, had had a severe effect on the business's finances, that no one in the company had been paid a bonus, and that pay cuts had also been introduced. It found that Mr Petrescu was not dismissed for any reason connected with financial targets and held that the decision not to pay him a discretionary bonus could not be said to be arbitrary or capricious. The bonus claim was dismissed, with reference to Cantor Fitzgerald International v Horkulak and Brogden & Anor v Investec Bank Plc.