No obligation to inform employer

The Claimant worked 2 days a week for the Academy but, in breach of his contract, he accepted a zero hours contract to work between Mondays and Wednesdays elsewhere without telling the Academy. When the police informed the Academy of the sexual allegations they suspended the Claimant and disciplined him on the grounds, both that he was in breach of contract in failing to inform them about the other employment, and also the allegations of sexual misconduct. He was sacked for gross misconduct. His unfair dismissal claim succeeded.

The reason the Tribunal gave, which was upheld by the EAT, was that the Academy was not entitled to treat his failure to inform it about the allegation as gross misconduct where there was no policy or contractual requirement for him to do so. It did however reduce his compensation by 30% to reflect his contributory conduct in failing to inform the Academy about his second job.

This legal update is provided for general information purposes only and should not be applied to specific circumstances without prior consultation with us.

For further details on any of the issues covered in this update please contact Gemma Ospedale, Partner in Employment on 020 7583 2222.