An Employment Tribunal in Belfast has dismissed all claims brought by a legal bookkeeper against Antrim-based solicitors firm Anderson Gillan Barr Limited, rejecting complaints of constructive unfair dismissal, unlawful deduction from wages, and automatically unfair dismissal under transfer of undertakings rules.

Kelly Scott had worked as a legal bookkeeper with O'Rourke, MacDonald and Tweed Solicitors from October 1998, based at their Antrim office. Her employment transferred to Anderson Gillan Barr Limited on 1 January 2023 under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, following the proposed retirement of a partner at the firm. Scott resigned on 10 November 2023 and subsequently claimed she had been constructively dismissed.

At the heart of the case was Scott's contention that she held a contractual entitlement to full sick pay - rather than Statutory Sick Pay - arising from custom and practice during her 25 years at her previous employer, and that this entitlement had transferred under TUPE. She commenced sickness absence on 3 August 2023 citing stress, during which she received only SSP. She raised formal grievances in September and October 2023 regarding sick pay, training, induction, support, and communication.

The tribunal, presided over by Employment Judge Reid, found that while OMT had paid full pay during sickness absence on a number of occasions, Scott had not established that the practice was sufficiently certain, automatic, or consistently applied to constitute an implied contractual entitlement. The tribunal noted that Scott herself acknowledged there was no written sick pay policy, that her previous employer had never expressly stated all staff were entitled to full sick pay, and that she would consult the partner each time a member of staff was absent before processing wages. The partner, Ian McMurray, told the respondent's director that sick pay at OMT had been handled on a discretionary, case-by-case basis.

Scott also alleged she had not received adequate training on the firm's ALB accounting software following the transfer, had been left without sufficient induction or support, and had been denied access to systems and information needed to carry out her role. The tribunal found that training had taken place on five occasions between January and June 2023, provided by the firm's bookkeeper Michele Fraser. It accepted that ALB did not itself provide formal external accounts training, and that Fraser had previously learned the system through practical assistance from an experienced bookkeeper rather than a formal programme. The tribunal found no evidence that systems or information necessary for Scott's role had been withheld from her, and found the respondent's communication during her sickness absence and through the grievance process did not breach the implied term of mutual trust and confidence.

The respondent declined to uphold Scott's grievances by letter on 8 November 2023, though it offered six weeks of full pay as a goodwill gesture and committed to reviewing training options. Scott resigned two days later without pursuing the internal appeal process. The tribunal found her complaints of constructive dismissal, unlawful deduction from wages, and automatically unfair dismissal under TUPE to be without foundation, and dismissed all claims. The hearing took place over two days on 27 and 28 August 2025 in Belfast. Scott represented herself at the final hearing. Anderson Gillan Barr was represented by Oisín Friel of counsel, instructed by Carson McDowell LLP.