Langley v Burlo
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Judgment Date | 03 March 2006 |
| Date | 03 March 2006 |
| Court | Employment Appeal Tribunal |
EMPLOYMENT APPEAL TRIBUNAL
Before Mr Justice Elias, President, Mr P. Parker and Mr P. Smith
THE principle that as a matter of good industrial relations practice an employee was entitled to unfair dismissal compensation which included full pay for the notice period, even when unable to work then because of sickness, was no longer good law.
The Employment Appeal Tribunal so held by a majority, Mr P. Smith dissenting, when allowing an appeal by the employers, Mr D. E. Langley and Ms C. J. Carter, and dismissing a cross-appeal by the claimant, Ms A. M. Burlo, from a central London employment tribunal on August 4, 2005, upholding her complaints of wrongful and unfair dismissal and awarding damages which included full pay for her eight week contractual notice period during which she was off sick, despite a term in her contract that she would receive statutory sick pay if she were absent ill.
The cross-appeal was on the ground that even if the tribunal was wrong to award full pay for the notice period in the wrongful dismissal action it should have awarded the same sum when calculating the unfair dismissal compensation.
Ms Sarah Wilkinson for the employers; Mr Ayoade Elesinnla for Ms Burlo.
MR JUSTICE ELIAS said that the claimant was employed by the appellants as a nanny.
She was dismissed in March 2004 and shortly before her dismissal she suffered injuries in a car crash and was unable to work her notice period.
The tribunal upheld her complaints of unlawful and unfair dismissal. It found she was entitled to eight weeks notice under her contract. In calculating the compensatory award no sums were awarded referable to the notice period because the tribunal had already identified the loss for that period in the damages for wrongful dismissal.
The finding on liability was not disputed. The only ground on which the employers sought to challenge the decision was that the tribunal erred in concluding that the claimant was entitled to full pay for the notice period.
They accepted that the notice period was eight weeks but submitted that the clear term of the contract was that she would receive statutory sick pay if she was absent ill.
The claimant submitted that the tribunal was right to conclude she was contractually entitled to full pay in the notice period and alternatively cross-appealed on the ground that under the unfair dismissal provisions case law clearly...
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