Mr W Stafford v Hill Glasgow Ltd — 2020

Mr W Stafford worked for Hill Glasgow Ltd as a maintenance manager from 29 August 2019 until his dismissal by email on 31 March 2020. The respondent did not present a response or attend the hearing. The tribunal found Mr Stafford to be a credible and reliable witness and accepted that there was no health and safety representative or safety committee at the workplace.

The tribunal found that Mr Stafford raised concerns after learning on 24 January 2020 that the St Enoch Hotel did not have an asbestos register. He spoke to his line manager, Mr Adams, told other employees and subcontractors about the asbestos risk, and later contacted Glasgow City Environmental Health and Safety Unit. When he returned from annual leave on 30 March 2020, he again raised the absence of a survey report. The dismissal letter sent the next day did not state the reason for dismissal.

Applying section 100 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, the tribunal held that Mr Stafford had reasonable grounds for believing the circumstances were harmful or potentially harmful to health and safety and that he had brought those concerns to the employer's attention by reasonable means. It found that the principal reason for dismissal was his continuing querying of the asbestos report, so the dismissal was automatically unfair. On remedy, the tribunal awarded £13,266.50 for past loss after one week's notice pay was deducted, £9,015.07 for future loss, and no sum for loss of statutory rights because he had less than one year's service. It also made a further award of £1,050 for failure to provide a written statement of terms and conditions, producing a total monetary award of £23,331.57 and a prescribed element of £13,266.50 for recoupment purposes.