(sitting alone) Mr A Gordon v Height for Hire (UK) Ltd — 2021

The claimant, Mr A Gordon, was dismissed on 23 October 2020 after the respondent, Height for Hire (UK) Ltd, said there was a genuine redundancy situation. The claimant did not dispute redundancy as the reason for dismissal, but said the dismissal was unfair because the respondent failed to take reasonable steps to find him alternative work during consultation and the notice period. He had specifically raised telesales, promoter and other redeployment options during consultation and indicated he would accept a demotion and pay cut if necessary.

The tribunal found that the respondent advertised two Internal Sales Manager roles on 28 August 2020 and 30 September 2020, and a Dundee-based Self-Drive Handover Agent role on 19 October 2020, while the claimant remained under notice. It found the respondent did not alert him to those vacancies or discuss them with him, even though he had expressed interest in telesales and promoter work, had substantial outbound sales experience, and had also worked on the handover agent duties and trained others in that role. The tribunal accepted that he would have applied for the telesales roles if he had known about them, and that he would also have accepted the Handover Agent role if offered, despite the reduction in pay, status and relocation required.

Applying section 98(4) ERA 1996 and the Polkey approach, the tribunal held that a reasonable employer would not have assumed the claimant was unsuitable or unwilling to consider the vacancies. It found the respondent should have continued looking for redeployment opportunities during the notice period and should have offered at least a four-week trial period in one or both roles under section 138(2)(a) ERA 1996. The tribunal therefore held that the dismissal was outside the range of reasonable responses and was unfair.

On remedy, the tribunal held there was no entitlement to a basic award because a statutory redundancy payment had already been made. It awarded a compensatory award of £4,351.45, made up of £300 for loss of statutory rights, £3,160.10 for loss to the hearing date, and £891.35 for post-hearing loss. It found the claimant had taken reasonable steps to mitigate his losses, including taking work with Tesco and later with South Lanarkshire Council, and it assessed that his ongoing losses would cease by 8 October 2021.