Christmas parties are not the best occasions at which to negotiate salary increases, as the parties found in the recent case of Judge v Crown Leisure Limited.
Mr Judge, the special projects operations manager at a company that managed gambling and amusement machines in the North-West and North Wales, complained that another employee, Mr Mills, was paid substantially more than him for doing the same job.
The complaint remained unresolved, and at that year's Christmas party, held at the Savoy Hotel, Blackpool, and attended by members of staff and their spouses or partners, Mr Judge again raised the matter with his manager who, according to Mr Judge, told him that within two years, he would increase his pay to match Mr Mills.
Unfortunately for Mr Judge, the increases did not take place. Mr Judge took the view that his contract of employment, as varied by the conversation at the Christmas party, had been broken. He resigned and claimed constructive dismissal.
The tribunal dismissed his claim and his appeal was heard by the Employment Appeal Tribunal in September. The appeal upheld the original tribunal's decision. It accepted that Mr Judge's manager may well have promised Mr Judge the pay rise he was claiming, but took the view that a conversation such as that held at a Christmas party could not amount to a legally enforceable contract.
The manager's remarks, the appeal observed, were made during a purely social occasion and in the "convivial spirit of the evening". The conversation was not intended to create legal relations. There was therefore no contractual commitment for the company to break and Mr Judge could not therefore have been constructively dismissed.
This is a harsh ruling and one cannot help but have considerable sympathy for Mr Judge. Employers should in no circumstances treat the decision as carte blanche to make all kinds of outrageous promises to their staff during the Christmas party. Business and pleasure should be kept strictly separate.
- Stephen Elliott is a solicitor in the employment team of North-East law firm Ward Hadaway. He can be contacted on 0191-204 4000 or by email at stephen.elliott@wardhadaway.com
Published: 14/12/2004
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