Polkey v AE Dayton Services Ltd
| Polkey v AE Dayton Services Ltd | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | House of Lords |
| Decided | 19 November 1987 |
| Citation(s) | [1987] UKHL 8, [1988] ICR 142 |
| Case opinions | |
| Lord Bridge | |
| Keywords | |
| Unfair dismissal, Polkey deduction | |
Polkey v AE Dayton Services Ltd [1987] UKHL 8 is a UK labour law case, concerning unfair dismissal, now governed by the Employment Rights Act 1996.
Facts
Mr Polkey drove a van for 4 years until told to come to the manager’s office and that he was redundant on the spot.
Tribunal said this was ‘heartless disregard of the provisions of the code of practice’ but that redundancies were necessary.
Judgment
Lord Bridge held that on the proper construction of the fairness test in the predecessor to the Employment Rights Act 1996 section 98 it was irrelevant to ask whether a different outcome may have resulted from a proper procedure, and it was not open for a tribunal to ask that. An employer does not act unreasonably if (1) employees who underperform are warned and given an opportunity to improve (2) employees who engage in misconduct are investigated and given a hearing (3) employees who are redundant are given good warning and a consultation with steps to minimise losses. But if the end result would be the same, then this will go to remedy not liability:
| “ | If it is held that taking the appropriate steps which the employer failed to take before dismissing the employee would not have affected the outcome, this will often lead to the result that the employee, though unfairly dismissed, will recover no compensation or, in the case of redundancy, no compensation in excess of his redundancy payment...[1]
... An industrial tribunal may conclude, as in the instant case, that the appropriate procedural steps would not have avoided the employee’s dismissal as redundant. |
” |
See also
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Notes
- ↑ See Earl v Slater Wheeler (Airlyne) Ltd [1973] 1 WLR 51, damages reduced to zero because of contributory fault.