Claimant v Pentaco Construction Limited
Outcome
Individual claims
The tribunal found that although the respondent committed breaches of the implied term of trust and confidence (sending the claimant home, excluding him from the business for 3 weeks, ignoring his grievance), the claimant did not resign in response to these breaches. Instead, the tribunal concluded the claimant resigned to avoid attending the disciplinary hearing on 8 December 2023, not because of the respondent's repudiatory conduct.
The claimant claimed he was entitled to carry over 13 days' holiday from previous leave years, but the tribunal found no contractual right to do so. The service agreement prohibited carry-over, there was no mutual variation agreed with the Board, and insufficient evidence to establish a custom and practice allowing employees to carry over more than 3 days' holiday.
Facts
The claimant was managing director of a construction company from May 2017 to December 2023. On 25 October 2023, he was told to go home for two weeks, excluded from IT systems and company information. A subcontractor alleged the claimant had £20k of works done at his home and told the contractor to hide the costs in a public sector contract. The respondent suspended the claimant on 17 November 2023 and scheduled a disciplinary hearing for 8 December 2023. The claimant raised a grievance about Mr Hubbard's conduct on 15 November 2023, but Mr Hubbard refused to recuse himself from chairing the disciplinary. The claimant resigned on 7 December 2023, one day before the hearing.
Decision
The tribunal found the respondent breached the implied term of trust and confidence by sending the claimant home without explanation, excluding him from the business for three weeks, and ignoring his grievance. However, the tribunal concluded the claimant did not resign in response to these breaches but rather to avoid the disciplinary hearing. The holiday pay claim also failed because there was no contractual right to carry over more than three days' leave.
Practical note
Even where an employer commits repudiatory breaches, a constructive dismissal claim will fail if the tribunal finds the employee resigned for a different reason, such as to avoid disciplinary proceedings.
Legal authorities cited
Statutes
Case details
- Case number
- 3303997/2024
- Decision date
- 7 January 2025
- Hearing type
- full merits
- Hearing days
- 2
- Classification
- contested
Respondent
- Sector
- construction
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- solicitor
Employment details
- Role
- managing director
- Service
- 7 years
Claimant representation
- Represented
- Yes
- Rep type
- barrister