Mr R Joselin v British Airways plc v — 2021

The tribunal held that the effective date of termination was 30 September 2017. British Airways gave the claimant unequivocal notice on 27 June 2017, confirmed by the 29 June 2017 letter, and there was no mutual agreement before expiry to extend or revoke that notice. Later events in October and November, including administrative errors that led to confusion about the termination date and payroll handling, did not change the legal effective date of termination.

On limitation, the tribunal found that the unfair dismissal claim was presented out of time if 30 September 2017 was the EDT, but that it was not reasonably practicable for the claimant to start early conciliation by 29 December 2017 because he reasonably believed, partly due to the respondent's later correspondence, that the termination date was 30 November 2017. He then issued the claim within a reasonable further period. The tribunal therefore accepted jurisdiction over both claims.

On the merits, the tribunal accepted the respondent's reason for dismissal as the claimant's continuous absence since 25 November 2016 and the absence of any definite date for return to his contractual role. It held that this was a potentially fair reason. However, the dismissal was unfair because the procedure adopted was outside the band of reasonable responses: the respondent did not contact the claimant during the notice period as promised, did not refer him to Career Transition Service, did not properly revisit the decision when he declared himself fit for work on 28 September 2017, and did not obtain updated BAHS advice in time to consider the change of circumstances before 30 September.

The tribunal also held that the appeal position was unfair. Although the claimant did not appeal within 7 days of the June dismissal letter, he later attempted to appeal after the 22 November 2017 letter, which stated a new termination date of 30 November 2017. The refusal to hear that appeal was made without proper investigation into the surrounding circumstances, including the events of 3 and 5 October. The unfair dismissal claim therefore succeeded, subject to a 90% Polkey reduction, and the final award was a basic award of £12,469.50, a compensatory award of £1,968.97, and a total award of £14,438.47. The breach of contract claim failed because the tribunal found that the claimant had already been given the required 12 weeks' notice.