Mrs A Henderson v A Irvine Mr P Irvine (Son) — 2026

Mrs A Henderson was employed by Mrs Arlene Irvine as a Personal Assistant from 8 July 2021 until 27 June 2025. After Mrs Henderson said she could not change her agreed working days at short notice but could adopt the new days the following week, Peter Irvine told her that she was dismissed. A text message later confirmed termination of her contract. No disciplinary process took place and no right of appeal was provided.

The Tribunal held that the summary termination without any process was outside the band of reasonable responses and that Mrs Henderson had been unfairly dismissed. It accepted her evidence as credible and mostly reliable and found that the manner of dismissal affected her mental health. Her request for compensation under section 38 of the Employment Act 2002 was not well founded because she had received a statement of terms when she started work and knew the principal terms of her contract.

The Tribunal awarded £1,182 as a basic award. It calculated past wage loss at £3,795 after deducting £3,888 received for looking after her grandson, and future wage loss at £2,136. Because no disciplinary procedure had been followed, those losses were increased by 10% under section 207 of TULR(C)A 1992, producing £6,524.10, and the Tribunal added £500 for loss of statutory rights. The total award was £8,206.10, of which £3,795 was the prescribed element subject to the recoupment provisions.