Ms Yvonne Grant v Represented by:10 Mr D Hay - Advocate [Instructed by: Ms K Bolt – Solicitor]15 Asda Stores Limited — 2022

Ms Grant presented claims of unfair dismissal and notice pay, but no separate notice pay claim proceeded. The tribunal found that she verbally resigned on 9 December 2021 during a distressed night shift at Asda's Robroyston store, and that Mr McCabe then sent a cooling-off letter dated 10 December 2021. It held that the respondent's Leavers Policy was followed in practice and, by custom and practice, implied a contractual right for an employee to retract a resignation during the seven-day cooling-off period, which on the tribunal's analysis ran from 10 December and expired on 17 December.

The tribunal accepted Ms Cameron's evidence about the call on 16 December. It found that Ms Grant did not retract her resignation in that call; rather, she said that she believed she was doing the right thing and would not be back. By contrast, the tribunal found that the call with Mr McCabe on 17 December was a retraction: Ms Grant said she was mentally unfit to make the decision to resign and had not quit. The tribunal preferred the evidence of Ms Cameron and Mr Deavey to Mr McCabe on material points, and treated Mr McCabe's later handling of the matter as inconsistent with the policy and with the claimant's retraction.

The tribunal therefore held that Ms Grant had effectively withdrawn her resignation and had been unfairly dismissed. It recorded that the respondent did not seek to prove a fair reason for dismissal under the Employment Rights Act 1996 once that finding was made. On remedy, the parties agreed a basic award of £7,064.98. The tribunal awarded a compensatory award of £6,039.38, made up of £5,439.72 net loss of pay between 17 December 2021 and 23 May 2022, £99.66 in pension loss, and £500 for loss of statutory rights. It rejected the mitigation argument, accepting that Ms Grant did not act unreasonably in not seeking work before starting new employment on 23 May 2022, and the total award was £13,104.36.