Mr Timothy Benstead v Certsure LLP — 2022

Mr Timothy Benstead was dismissed by Certsure LLP on 6 November 2020 by reason of redundancy. The tribunal later found that the dismissal was part of a genuine redundancy, but it was procedurally unfair because the respondent should have considered whether there was an appropriate selection pool for the closure of the Principal Technical Author role and should have reasonably explored alternative employment.

On remedy, the tribunal considered the matter on the papers and accepted that Mr Benstead was 58 years old, had 15 years' service, and earned a gross weekly salary of £1,288.41. It calculated a basic award of £12,105, but found that the claimant had already received an enhanced redundancy payment of £38,652, including the statutory redundancy entitlement, so no basic award was made.

The tribunal also made no compensatory award because it had already concluded that any compensatory award should be reduced by 100%. It recorded that, even if a fair process had been followed and alternative employment had been explored, Mr Benstead would not have accepted any role because he fundamentally disagreed with the respondent's future business strategy. He did not seek reinstatement or re-engagement.