Ms Conway, assisted by her niece Ms Wright For the v Mrs Lambert, a friend of the respondent with a background in HR. — 2022

Ms Conway worked as a hairdresser for Mr Cowley’s salon, Hairs and Graces. The tribunal found she started in 2001 and moved from part-time to full-time work in April 2009. The salon closed on 21 June 2022 when the landlord repossessed the premises. The tribunal accepted that 18 June 2022 was her last full day at work and that she attended the premises on 21 June to find the salon closed.

The main issue was whether the claimant’s text on 18 June, saying ‘I will go then’, amounted to a resignation. Applying the objective approach drawn from Graham Group plc v Garratt, Martin v Yeomen Aggregates Ltd and Chapman v Letheby and Christopher Ltd, the tribunal held that the words were ambiguous. It found that the claimant apologised the following morning, and that the respondent’s own earlier experience of a similar incident, together with his messages updating her on the landlord situation, made it more likely than not that he understood she had not resigned. The tribunal therefore found no resignation.

The tribunal held that the effective date of termination was 21 June 2022, when the respondent ceased trading from the salon. On that basis, the dismissal was by reason of redundancy within section 139 ERA 1996. The respondent accepted responsibility for the claimant’s salary for 21 to 23 June 2022 at £90 gross per day, and the tribunal’s compensation reflected immediate loss of net earnings, loss of statutory rights and accrued holiday pay.

The tribunal awarded a total of £7,447.02 gross, made up of a basic award of £6,547.17 and a compensatory award of £899.85.