Dismissal, illness and lost earnings

An employee who has been constructively dismissed can claim for lost earnings during an illness that started before their employment ended, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held.

Personal assistant Gillian Triggs became ill as a result of overwork and alleged bullying. She eventually resigned but won her claim of constructive dismissal.

But her employer argued that she was not entitled to compensation for loss of earnings when she was too ill too work anyway, since her illness had started before her employment ended and was therefore not a result of the constructive dismissal.

If an employee has been dismissed after being off sick and is unable to work, s/he cannot usually recover those lost earnings in an unfair dismissal claim.

However, in the first appeal to deal with this issue, the EAT held that the principle does not follow in cases of constructive dismissal where it is the employer's actions that cause the illness and the dismissal. As a result, it said, Triggs was entitled to compensation for her loss of earnings before she resigned.

GAB Robins (UK) Ltd v Triggs EAT/0111/07