Ms Viola Szekelyhidi v Golders Green College & School of English Ltd — 2023

The claimant, an EFL teacher employed by the respondent from April 2008 until her resignation effective 3 May 2022, brought claims for unfair constructive dismissal, unlawful deductions from wages and holiday pay following two ET1s that were consolidated; a redundancy pay claim was withdrawn at a preliminary hearing on 17 November 2022. Employment Judge Bansal, sitting alone at Watford, heard evidence over three days in November and December 2023. The respondent's principal witness, Mr David Simons Delmonte, did not attend, and the respondent's representative did not cross-examine the claimant or her supporting witnesses on the substance of the complaints.

The Tribunal found that the respondent had committed serious repudiatory breaches of the implied term of trust and confidence, including imposing a unilateral change of contract without proper consultation, refusing grievance meetings, refusing to allow the claimant to be accompanied by her union representative, demanding payment of legal fees without legal basis, and the incident of 28 February 2022 in which the claimant was made to feel physically intimidated outside her workplace. Either individually or cumulatively, these amounted to a fundamental breach which the Tribunal held was the effective cause of the claimant's resignation; she did not affirm the breaches or delay in resigning. The Tribunal also held that, because the claimant had not agreed the new contract terms and was working under protest, she was entitled to be paid at her previous salary, so the underpayment from 1 October 2021 to 3 May 2022 was an unlawful deduction.

The parties reached agreement on remedy and the respondent was ordered by consent to pay the claimant GBP 39,208.47 (gross), comprising a basic award of GBP 8,614.40, compensation for immediate and future losses, pension loss, loss of statutory rights, an Acas uplift of GBP 4,270.52, holiday pay of GBP 1,399.84 and unpaid wages of GBP 3,571.13. A costs application by the claimant was reserved.