Mr George Mitchell v Gerco-Fas Limited — 2021

Mr George Mitchell brought a breach of contract claim about notice pay after Gerco-Fas Limited terminated his employment during probation. The tribunal found that he had entered into a legally binding contract of employment when he signed the Letter of Appointment and began work, even though he did not sign the separate Terms and Conditions document. The tribunal relied on the claimant’s conduct in commencing employment and on the authorities cited in the judgment, including Collymore v Capita Business Services Ltd and Arley Homes North West Ltd v Cosgrave.

The tribunal accepted the claimant’s evidence that, on 26 May 2020, Mr Anderson orally agreed that he would stay in Denmark to complete a handover and would be paid up to the end of June 2020. It found that this agreement was supported by consideration because the claimant stayed on to assist with the handover in difficult Covid-19 circumstances. The tribunal did not accept Mr Anderson’s evidence on the material issue to the same extent, and noted that the termination letter sent on 1 June 2020 did not reflect the later oral account given in the ET3.

However, applying Rock Advertising Ltd v MWB Business Exchange Centres Ltd, the tribunal held that the oral variation was ineffective because clause 16.1 of the claimant’s contract required any amendment to be notified in writing. On that basis, the contractual notice provision remained one week, and the tribunal found that the respondent had paid the claimant his contractual notice entitlement. The claim for breach of contract was therefore not well founded and was dismissed.