Ms M Howieson v Implantsdentist Ltd t/a — 2025

Ms M Howieson had worked at Great Junction Dental Practice since 17 February 2008. After the practice was sold on 24 July 2024, the tribunal found that her principal receptionist role was effectively removed without warning or consultation, that new staff took over reception, and that she was left without a clear role. It accepted her evidence, and that of Mrs Siersch, over the respondent's case that her role continued as before.

The tribunal also accepted that the claimant had ongoing difficulties with Mrs Iqbal and, more generally, with the way she was treated by colleagues after the transfer. It found that she was ignored, excluded, and treated rudely, and that the respondent failed to address her concerns despite assurances that it would do so. The claimant raised those concerns in meetings on 4 September 2024 and 3 October 2024, and in a WhatsApp exchange on 18 September 2024, seeking clarity about who was responsible for management and how the practice was to be run.

The claimant resigned on 26 October 2024 after discovering a salary underpayment of about £300 and receiving an explanation that her hours were lower on some Fridays. The tribunal treated the underpayment and the way it was communicated as the last straw, but it also held that the earlier conduct, viewed cumulatively, amounted to a repudiatory breach of contract. It found that the removal of her role and status, the failure to deal with her concerns, and the unresolved treatment by colleagues destroyed or seriously damaged mutual trust and confidence, and that she resigned in response to that breach.

The tribunal therefore held that the claimant had been constructively unfairly dismissed. It rejected the respondent's submissions on contribution and Polkey, finding no unreasonable conduct by the claimant and no basis to reduce the award for failure to raise a grievance before resigning. For remedy, the tribunal accepted a gross weekly pay of £630 and 16 years' service for a basic award of £15,120. It assessed compensatory loss to the hearing at £9,534, added £600 for loss of statutory rights, and made no award for future loss, producing a compensatory award of £10,134.