Mr K Thorndick v Munihire Operated Ltd — 2021

Mr K Thorndick worked for Munihire Operated Ltd from 1 July 2019 to June 2020 as a sweeper driver. He said he had raised concerns about excessive hours, breaks, and health and safety, and relied on an incident in March 2020 when he became unwell at work and sent a WhatsApp video said to show a road reopened while he was still on site.

The tribunal found on the balance of probabilities that Mr Thorndick did not raise a complaint about excessive hours or specifically ask for time off on 4 March 2020. It also found that the March video had no bearing on the dismissal. The reason for dismissal was Mr Thorndick's conduct in response to client complaints in June 2020, including his refusal to accept responsibility and his suggestion that site problems were the result of a conspiracy against him. The tribunal therefore dismissed the automatic unfair dismissal claim and did not need to decide whether the video amounted to a protected disclosure.

On the working-time allegations, the tribunal accepted the respondent's evidence that the claimant's vehicle was treated as plant or machinery and that, for the alleged hours and rest-break complaints, the Working Time Regulations did not apply to him in the way he contended. It found that he had not complained to Mr Le Huray about excessive hours and that there was no basis for a dismissal claim founded on health and safety concerns or asserted statutory rights.

The holiday pay claim also failed. The tribunal found that the contract holiday year ran from 1 April to 31 March, that the claimant had 12.5 days outstanding at the end of the 2019/20 leave year, and that he had not made a request for annual leave in accordance with Regulation 15 of the Working Time Regulations. It held that he had not been prevented from taking leave by Covid-19, that Regulation 13(10) and (11) did not assist him, and that the claim for holiday pay was dismissed.