Mr Daniel Prisic v Represented by:- In Person Dumfries and Galloway Council — 2018

Mr Daniel Prisic was employed as a Care Assistant from 19 October 2007 and submitted an ER1 expression of interest in early retirement/voluntary severance on 1 November 2016. The tribunal found that the process described in the correspondence and in discussions with his line manager, PM, did not amount to an offer of redundancy payment. The letter of 21 December 2016 was treated as an estimate and an invitation to treat, not a binding offer, and by 14 February 2017 PM had only made a proposal for a one-off payment to a senior manager, which was not accepted.

The tribunal found that no agreement was reached between the parties and no contractual entitlement to a redundancy payment arose from their actsings. It accepted that the claimant believed he would receive a payment, but held that the respondent had concluded that neither the original estimate nor any variation was available. The tribunal therefore dismissed the redundancy payment claim. It also found that the claimant resigned on 13 April 2017 rather than being made redundant, and that his post remained in existence.

The respondent applied for expenses, relying on lack of reasonable prospects and alleged unreasonable conduct. The tribunal accepted that the claim ultimately had no reasonable prospect of success, but refused the application because it was not persuaded that the claimant had acted vexatiously or unreasonably in bringing or conducting the proceedings. It took account of the claimant's lack of representation, the complexity of the interactions about voluntary severance, and the absence of a clear written explanation from the respondent setting out its final position.