Claimant v Giacomo Wynd Ltd — 2022

The case was determined under Rule 21 because the respondents did not present an ET3 response. The claimant, Mr Gary Walls, had worked for Giacomo Wynd Limited as a baker from 22 June 1998 and gave written notice on 27 November 2021 terminating his employment with immediate effect. The tribunal noted that he was then 60 years old and had 23 complete years of continuous service. It also recorded that he had been told verbally that his position was redundant, but that the respondents could not afford to make him redundant.

On the available material, the tribunal held that the claimant was entitled to terminate without notice because the respondents' conduct amounted to a repudiatory breach of contract. The reasons given were breaches of the express terms of the contract as to hours of work and pay, and breach of the implied term of trust and confidence arising from the respondents' failure to respond timeously to his grievance of 26 October 2021 and their threatening him with dismissal for some other substantial reason. The tribunal therefore treated the termination as a constructive dismissal and found that the claimant had been unfairly dismissed.

For remedy, the tribunal awarded 12 weeks' contractual notice pay of £5,301.60 for wrongful dismissal. It also found an unauthorised deduction from wages and awarded £922 for unpaid wages for October and November 2021. In relation to unfair dismissal, it awarded a basic award of £13,033.10, calculated by reference to 29.5 weeks' pay, age 60, 23 years' service, and gross weekly pay of £441.80, and a compensatory award of £2,673.42.

The compensatory award was made up of past loss to the date of the schedule of loss, using 14 weeks x £338.53 net weekly basic pay (£4,739.42) plus loss of statutory rights (£300), less mitigation of £3,770, and future loss of earnings of £1,404 based on 26 weeks at £54 per week net. The tribunal said the claimant had obtained new employment paying less than his former job. Although the claimant alleged unpaid holiday entitlement, no award was made because there was insufficient information to assess it. The tribunal stated that the total payable was £21,930.12, correcting the schedule of loss which had miscalculated the total.