In Singh v Metroline West Limited the Employment Appeal Tribunal decided that an employer had committed a fundamental breach of contract when it withheld company sick pay from an employee suspected of malingering.
In the recent case of Coulson v Rentplus Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld a decision that the Acas Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures applied to a sham redundancy dismissal that was tainted by discrimination.
The decision to make employees redundant is never easy and care needs to be taken to follow a lawful process in order to avoid the risks and costs of potential claims, particularly unfair dismissal.
In the recent case of Fentem v Outform EMEA Ltd it was decided that the employer’s use of a PILON clause to bring forward an employee’s termination date after he had resigned did not amount to a dismissal.
In the case of Hope v British Medical Association the Employment Appeal Tribunal upheld a decision that it had been fair to dismiss an employee who raised multiple informal grievances and refused to progress them or attend a grievance hearing.