ETZ 4(WR) IN THE EMPLOYMENT TRIBUNAL (SCOTLAND) AT EDINBURGH Judgment of the Employment Tribunal in Case No: 4107712/2020 Heard at Edinburgh on the th and th April 2021 Employment Judge J G d’Inverno Miss D Noble v Jill Brown trading as Nice Stuff — 2021

The tribunal found that a genuine redundancy situation existed after Jill Brown trading as Nice Stuff closed the Broughton Street outlet and reduced staffing because trading had fallen and the business could not continue to run two outlets. It accepted that Miss D Noble had 10 years' continuous service and that, at the 18 August 2020 meeting, she said she was volunteering for redundancy; the respondent then accepted that offer by email. The tribunal also found that three other affected staff agreed reduced hours, so the need for compulsory redundancy selection did not arise.

The unfair dismissal claim failed. Applying s.98(4) ERA 1996, the tribunal held that the respondent acted reasonably in accepting the claimant's offer of voluntary redundancy when she did, and that the procedure was not defective or unfair. The ACAS disciplinary and grievance code was said to exclude redundancies, and the tribunal accepted that the respondent could move the remaining discussion to email rather than hold further face-to-face meetings.

The claimant's breach of contract and wrongful dismissal claims fell away because she accepted that her reduction in hours from 16 to 14.5 per week had been agreed by mutual variation in January 2019. The tribunal also held that it had no jurisdiction to award damages for personal injury caused by stress and anxiety outside the discrimination context, and the claimant did not insist on that claim.

On remedy, the tribunal used a weekly wage of £132.92, based on 768 hours a year at £9 per hour, and rejected the respondent's 14.5-hour calculation and any retrospective reduction for the alleged annual-leave offset. It calculated statutory redundancy pay at £1,993.80 and notice-equivalent pay at £1,329.20, credited sums already paid of £1,957.50 and £1,305, and therefore ordered balances of £36.30 and £24.20, making the total award £60.50.