Mr J Priestley v Represented by: - see above JD Coaches Scotland Ltd — 2019

Both claimants transferred from McGills to JD Coaches on the basis that their MyBus shifts would usually finish early, that they would still receive full daily pay, and that passenger tips on the MyBus service would remain with the driver. The tribunal found that JD Coaches did not provide written particulars of employment, written arrangements about hours or pay frequency, a staff handbook, or itemised pay statements through 2018. When the respondent won the new 343 service, it expected the claimants to work later into the evening on alternate days, but the tribunal found that they were working under protest and had not agreed to the change.

On 11 August 2018 both claimants submitted written grievances about the new arrangements and about the conduct of Mr and Mrs Donnelly. On 13 August 2018, after the grievances were handed to Mr Donnelly, he reacted angrily, told them there would be no more early finishes and that they were off their shifts, and closed the roller gate behind them. The tribunal held that this was a dismissal, not a resignation: there were no unequivocal words of resignation, no reasonable basis for treating their departure as voluntary, and no grievance meeting or appeal was offered in line with the ACAS Code.

The tribunal rejected any basic-award or compensatory deduction for conduct and made no Polkey reduction. It also rejected the respondent's attempt to justify dismissal by reference to Mr Chalmers's 7 August route deviation and the later SPT warning, finding that the respondent had no fair process or written guidance for that issue and did not rely on it at the time. The tribunal made basic awards of £960 for Mr Priestley and £1,440 for Mr Chalmers, and compensatory awards of £3,496.26 and £7,142.63 respectively after a 10% ACAS uplift. The written particulars failure was reflected in the compensation calculations, and each claimant also received £780.24 for notice pay, making the total monetary outcome £14,599.37.