Employment tribunal - schedule of loss

banker75

Grateful if anyone could please provide some advice.  I'm preparing a schedule of loss for a tribunal claim.  Part of the claim is unfair dismissal - I am arguing that a valid redundancy situation did not exist and no meaningful consultation took place.  I received redundancy pay in line with the company's policy, and managed to find another job reasonably quickly, so I am not claiming for loss of earnings.  My question is whether, and to what amount, can I claim for the failure to follow their own policy and ACAS guidance on what constitutes a valid redundancy situation?  Is it a certain percentage of the redundancy payment received?

thanks in advance

pinkshoes

Given very few unfair dismissal cases are successful, I would thing carefully about why you are actually doing this.

I assume you have already raised a grievance/appealed the decision with the company over not following the correct procedure? 

What specifically did they not do right?

I assume you have also spoken to ACAS for advice?

Sometimes it's better in life to just move on rather than getting hung up on the past. 

Undervalued

banker75 said:

Grateful if anyone could please provide some advice.  I'm preparing a schedule of loss for a tribunal claim.  Part of the claim is unfair dismissal - I am arguing that a valid redundancy situation did not exist and no meaningful consultation took place.  I received redundancy pay in line with the company's policy, and managed to find another job reasonably quickly, so I am not claiming for loss of earnings.  My question is whether, and to what amount, can I claim for the failure to follow their own policy and ACAS guidance on what constitutes a valid redundancy situation?  Is it a certain percentage of the redundancy payment received?

thanks in advance

What losses have you actually suffered?

Assuming this actually did amount to unfair dismissal and not redundancy (have you taken proper legal advice on that point?) then....

Were you actually out of work for longer than your notice period (I assume you got PILON rather than actually working your notice)?

Is your new job, which you found "reasonably quickly" lower paid than your old job?

Give that you say you are not claiming loss of earnings, I assume the answer to both questions is no?

Failure to follow their own policies, if indeed that is what they did, could amount to a breach of contract. But, you may well find on a careful reading of your contract etc that these policies are not contractual. In any case any award would be minimal if you have not suffered a loss.

ACAS guidelines are just that, guidelines. Statutory procedures, which had to be followed to the letter, are long gone. A failure to follow the ACAS guidelines is not in itself unlawful. It all depends on whether what they did instead was legally unfair.

banker75

Hi Pinkshoes,

this is just part of the claim - we've already had a preliminary case management hearing and the judge has asked me to prepare a schedule of loss in advance of the scheduled final hearing.

In terms of the rest of my claim I am clear on what I am looking for, it's just this one part I'm unsure about. I have seen reference from searches to 10%-25% uplift on statutory redundancy amounts for failure to follow ACAS guidance, but not sure how/if that applies if I have already received a redundancy payment.

DullGreyGuy

We dont have punitive damages in the UK and so all losses must be to put you back in the same situation as you'd have otherwise been rather than to penalise your ex employer.

Before you think about the amount, what are your actual heads of claim? Obviously this would normally be things like loss of earnings but that doesnt appear to be the case here. Once you've your heads of claim then you think about what your actual loss has been and what evidence you have to substantiate it. 

Normally you'd be doing this at the start of the process to decide if its worth the hassle of court/tribunal over. Redundancy pay typically replaces the basic sum paid for unfair dismissal 

Undervalued

DullGreyGuy said:

We dont have punitive damages in the UK and so all losses must be to put you back in the same situation as you'd have otherwise been rather than to penalise your ex employer.

Before you think about the amount, what are your actual heads of claim? Obviously this would normally be things like loss of earnings but that doesnt appear to be the case here. Once you've your heads of claim then you think about what your actual loss has been and what evidence you have to substantiate it. 

Normally you'd be doing this at the start of the process to decide if its worth the hassle of court/tribunal over. Redundancy pay typically replaces the basic sum paid for unfair dismissal 

Indeed.

Just to add, like any civil court case, you will be expected to have taken reasonable steps to mitigate any losses. By finding another job quickly you may well have done that. What you can't do is deliberately clock them up as big a bill as possible just because they are in the wrong (if indeed they are).

TBagpuss

As others have said, the question is what you actual loss was.
So for instnace, if the consultation period would have taken two weeks but didn't happen, you might argue you lost 2 weeks wages . 

pinkshoes

banker75 said:

Hi Pinkshoes,

this is just part of the claim - we've already had a preliminary case management hearing and the judge has asked me to prepare a schedule of loss in advance of the scheduled final hearing.

In terms of the rest of my claim I am clear on what I am looking for, it's just this one part I'm unsure about. I have seen reference from searches to 10%-25% uplift on statutory redundancy amounts for failure to follow ACAS guidance, but not sure how/if that applies if I have already received a redundancy payment.

So are you saying this new job you have got plus the redundancy pay has put you in a worse position than your previous job?

If so, then claim your actual losses e.g. if you had remained in your old job* you would have been paid £X a month more. Look at this over a 2 year time period then don't forget to deduct the redundancy money that you would not have received if you had stayed.

* I'm assuming it has been proven that the correct procedure was not followed and you should not have been made redundant.

Personally I am still unsure why you are doing this. You have a new job and got redundancy pay, so would it not be better to just move on with your life?