Mr B Gibson v Represented by: Mr S Gibson Lothian Leisure — 2021

Mr Ben Gibson was employed by Lothian Leisure as a chef at the Sun Inn in Dalkeith from February 2019 and was put on furlough in March 2020. The respondent entered no response and did not appear at the hearing. The tribunal accepted the claimant's evidence and documents, including that he had raised concerns about Covid precautions and PPE while his father was shielding, and that his employment was ended by text on 30 May 2020 without any discussion or process.

On the dismissal, the tribunal was not satisfied that the claimant's concerns amounted to a public interest disclosure under s.43B ERA 1996. It did find, however, that he had taken steps in circumstances of danger which he reasonably believed to be serious and imminent to protect his father, so s.100(1)(e) ERA 1996 applied. The tribunal also said that, if the employer had been selecting for redundancy, the dismissal was still automatically unfair under s.105(3) ERA 1996. The unfair dismissal claim therefore succeeded.

Remedy was awarded on the basis of a basic award of £6,562 and compensation of £14,500 for 29 weeks' loss at £500 per week. The tribunal also awarded £500 for one week's notice, £1,200 for 12 days of untaken statutory holiday at a daily rate of £100, £720 for furlough pay shortfalls, and £142.85 for pension deductions of £28.57 per month that had been taken from pay but not paid into the pension scheme. The holiday claim was determined under the Working Time Regulations 1998, and the pension point was treated as an unlawful deduction and, alternatively, as a contractual claim within the tribunal's extended jurisdiction.