Date of termination

Case 6: The facts

Mrs Kelly's request for part-time working was referred to a senior manager who rejected it and issued her with a P45, believing that she had said she would resign if the request were refused. Kelly, however, believed that she would be dismissed if the request were refused. By that time she was not attending work while waiting for the matter to be resolved.

In her unfair dismissal claim, the tribunal had to determine the effective date of termination of employment (EDT). Kelly said she was dismissed when she received her P45, but the employer said she had been dismissed earlier, which was why she had stopped attending work. The tribunal ruled that her employment had in fact continued after the P45 was sent, and had only ended when her solicitors wrote to claim that she had been dismissed.

The ruling

While agreeing that the reason for the termination was ambiguous, the Employment Appeal Tribunal said Kelly's employment clearly had been terminated, and the EDT was the date that she received her P45.

Kelly v Riveroak Associates UKEAT/0290/05