Claimant v Respondent — 2026

The Tribunal upheld Miss A Lee's complaint of breach of contract in relation to notice pay. It found that she entered into a valid contract with Stretford Swim School Limited from 19 December 2024. Although Linda Cooper later asserted that the manager who signed the contract lacked authority, the Tribunal concluded that the contract was validly created and that Miss Lee had no reason to believe he could not sign on the respondent's behalf. The Tribunal did not determine whether TUPE applied to her earlier employment with Little Angels Swim School Limited because no TUPE claim had been advanced and the complaint concerned notice pay under the respondent's contract.

The contract required Miss Lee to work 30 hours per week at £13.50 per hour and provided for four weeks' notice. She resigned in writing on 13 July 2025, intending her employment to end on 11 August 2025. Ms Cooper instead told her that she need work only one week's notice and that her employment would end on 18 July 2025. Miss Lee accepted the shorter working period while maintaining that she remained entitled to the full four weeks' notice pay, but the respondent paid only one week.

Applying the balance of probabilities, the Tribunal found that the respondent had failed to pay the remaining three weeks of contractual notice pay. It also found that the claim was presented in time following ACAS early conciliation. The respondent was ordered to pay £1,215 as damages for breach of contract, calculated as three weeks at 30 hours per week and £13.50 per hour. No quantified interest sum was awarded; the judgment's notice stated that interest would accrue at 8% per annum if the award was not paid within the prescribed period.