Courier with 9 years' service summarily dismissed without notice: unfair dismissal and unpaid wages claim succeeds

This case shows what can happen when an employer decides to dismiss a long-serving employee without any proper process. The courier had worked for ABG Couriers Ltd for nine years when he was suddenly sent a letter telling him he was summarily dismissed. He received no notice, no warning, and no opportunity to respond to any allegations.

What the employer did wrong

The employer's approach was flawed from the start. They failed to follow any of the ACAS disciplinary procedures, which meant the dismissal was automatically unfair. They also stopped paying the courier from 1 August 2021, even though he was not formally dismissed until 4 September 2021. This left him without wages for over a month, and he was not paid his statutory notice entitlement of nine weeks.

The tribunal also noted that the courier had been declared unfit for work by the DWP and was receiving Personal Independence Payments. This limited his loss of earnings claim, but he was still entitled to compensation for unpaid wages, notice pay, and holiday pay.

Why the result matters

This case is a reminder that even where an employee is unfit for work, an employer cannot simply dismiss them without following a fair procedure. The 25% uplift for failing to follow the ACAS code shows that tribunals take procedural failures seriously. For employees, it highlights the importance of claiming all unpaid entitlements, including wages, notice pay, and holiday pay, which can add up to a significant sum even when the compensatory award for future loss is limited.