Mr Terry Marsh v The Business Supply Network Ltd — 2020

Mr Terry Marsh did not attend the hearing. The judge telephoned him at the start; he said he believed someone had told him he did not need to attend because the case would be decided on the papers. The tribunal noted that he had filed only the claim form and no witness statement, documents, or calculation for the holiday pay claimed, and it proceeded in his absence.

Richard Willson, the respondent's managing director, gave sworn evidence which the tribunal accepted as truthful. He said the business had suffered from higher costs and reduced orders, and that on 8 July 2019 he told the claimant and another employee that they would have to be given notice in the future as part of staffing reductions.

The tribunal found that when told he would be given notice of termination by reason of redundancy, the claimant said there was no point in staying and walked out, not returning. On that basis, the tribunal held that he resigned with immediate effect rather than being dismissed by the respondent. The claim for notice pay therefore failed.

On holiday pay, the tribunal accepted the respondent's evidence that it had worked out from its records how much holiday the claimant had accrued and had paid him for holiday not taken, including 3 days' holiday pay. The tribunal rejected the holiday-pay claim and dismissed all claims.