Mr C Durrand v Reid and Fraser Limited — 2022

Mr Durrand brought claims for constructive unfair dismissal and unpaid holiday pay. The holiday pay issue fell away during the evidence because the claimant accepted that he had taken all of his accrued holiday. He then withdrew that claim, and the tribunal dismissed it on withdrawal.

On the dismissal claim, the tribunal accepted that the claimant resigned in response to two matters: the timing of notice about the sale of shares in the respondent and an alleged promised pay rise arising from a September 2016 appraisal. The tribunal found that the 2016 discussion did not create an express promise to give a particular pay rise; at most, the respondent agreed to look at pay again, and in fact the claimant received later increases in 2016, 2018 and 2021. There was therefore no breach of contract in relation to pay.

The tribunal also found no basis for implying a term requiring the respondent to tell employees about a share sale in advance, or to give a particular period of notice of it. The sale of shares was treated as a matter for the shareholders and purchasers, and the tribunal held that the employee terms and conditions did not change as a result of the share transfer into the employee ownership trust. On that basis, the tribunal rejected the allegation that the timing of the announcement breached the implied term of trust and confidence.

The tribunal further held that the claimant’s resignation was undermined by his 29 October 2021 email saying he would return if the respondent offered £15 per hour, a four-day week and 36 hours per week. That email was treated as inconsistent with a case that trust and confidence had been destroyed. The constructive unfair dismissal claim was therefore dismissed.