Claimant v Northwood Central UK Ltd — 2022

Ms Laura Bell transferred by TUPE on 11 November 2019 from The Key Place to Northwood Central Limited as a property letting agent. The tribunal found that the respondent's systems and procedures were significantly different from those used previously, that the claimant did not receive the shadowing and structured training she expected, and that the transferred staff were known by management to be unhappy about the training they were receiving.

The tribunal accepted that the claimant raised concerns about training and about the respondent's response when she had to leave work to collect her sick child, and that the two one-to-one meetings in December 2019 and January 2020 left her upset. It also accepted that on 1 February 2020 she learned that Anne Johnstone had told colleagues that she was off with work-related stress. Applying the Western Excavating, Malik, Kaur and Chindove approach, the tribunal held that the respondent's conduct, taken cumulatively, was likely to destroy or seriously damage trust and confidence and that the disclosure of medical information was the last straw.

The tribunal found that the claimant resigned by email on 5 March 2020 because of that breach and did not affirm the contract by waiting until then, taking account of her health, financial position and continued absence from work. The constructive dismissal claim therefore succeeded and the tribunal awarded a basic award of £1,223.28 and a compensatory award of £7,067.84, capped at the statutory maximum. It accepted the claimant's loss evidence, made no deduction for contributory fault, and did not apply a Polkey reduction; the total award was £8,291.12.

The only remaining unlawful deduction complaint was a deduction said to relate to Christmas Day 2019 holiday pay. That claim was dismissed because the tribunal was not satisfied that the deduction had been proved on the evidence about accrued holiday entitlement and because it accepted the respondent's position that the claimant had used her annual leave by the time of transfer.