Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Constructive dismissalEmployment lawEmployment contracts

Case of the week: Geys v Societe Generale, London Branch

by Personnel Today 14 Jun 2010
by Personnel Today 14 Jun 2010

Facts

The claimant, Raphael Geys, was employed as a managing director for fixed income sales at bank Societe Generale. On 29 November 2007, Geys was handed a letter that stated that the bank “has decided to terminate your employment with immediate effect”. He was then escorted from the building.

On 18 December 2007, the bank made a payment of approximately £32,000 directly into Geys’ bank account. The bank did not advise Geys in advance that the payment was to be made or what it constituted. However, Geys concluded that it was intended to be a payment in lieu of notice.

On 2 January 2008, Geys’ solicitors wrote to the bank’s solicitors stating that Geys had decided to affirm his contract of employment and reserved his position “in relation to the acceptance of these monies once we understand what they constitute”.

On 4 January 2008, the bank wrote to Geys stating that it had given notice to terminate his employment with immediate effect on 29 November 2007 and that his pay in lieu of notice had been credited to his bank account on 18 December 2007.

A dispute arose as to when Geys employment contract terminated, as this affected the amount of termination payment that he was owed under his contract with the bank. Geys argued that, having affirmed the contract on 2 January 2008, his contract ended on 29 February 2008, which was three months after notice was given. The bank’s case was that the contract terminated, if not on 29 November 2007, then on or shortly after 18 December when the bank made the payment in lieu of notice.

Decision

The High Court decided that, due to the bank’s failure to expressly inform Geys that it was summarily terminating his employment pursuant to the pay in lieu of notice clause, his employment contract did not end on 29 November when he was told he was summarily dismissed or on 18 December when the payment was made into his bank account. His employment contract did not terminate until 6 January 2008, the day on which Geys was deemed to have received the bank’s letter of 4 January confirming that it had exercised its contractual right to summarily dismiss and pay in lieu of notice.

The judge found that the bank’s actions on 29 November 2007 amounted to a repudiatory breach of Geys’ contract, since it did not have any justification for refusing to employ him. Geys had a choice whether to accept the repudiation or treat the contract as still in force. Therefore, the fact that the bank was exercising its contractual right to pay in lieu of notice had to be specifically communicated to Geys to terminate the contract.

The bank’s right to pay Geys in lieu of notice was set out in its staff handbook. Under his employment contract, Geys was entitled to three months’ notice on termination of his employment, but there was no right to pay in lieu.

It appeared that there was a conflict between the handbook and the contract. The High Court held that there was no conflict and that the right to three months’ notice was impliedly subject to other contractual rights. The pay in lieu of notice clause in the staff handbook qualified, rather than conflicted with, the contractual notice clause.

Implications

 If the decision is taken to terminate an employee’s employment summarily under a contractual pay in lieu of notice clause, it is important to ensure that this is expressly communicated to the employee at the time of dismissal. Be sure to make clear to the employee that the employer has a right to make a payment in lieu of notice, that the employer is exercising that right, and that the contract of employment will be terminated as a result.

In addition, ensure that the termination letter provides this information. A failure to provide such clarity means that the termination of the employee’s contract could be ineffective.

The other point to note is the importance of ensuring that contracts and handbooks do not contradict each other, or if they do, ensure it is clear which document will prevail. Needing to fall back on a court to determine such a conflict is far from ideal.

Rita Mehta, Solicitor, Thomas Eggar

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Practical guidance from XpertHR on termination of contracts and payments in lieu of notice

  • Contractual rights on termination: The XpertHR employment law manual provides guidance for employers on the contractual issues that arise on termination of employment, including payments in lieu of notice.
  • Model pay in lieu of notice contract clause: Use this model contract clause when drafting an employee’s contract or particulars of employment.
  • How to write and amend an employee handbook: One of the problems in this case was that the employee’s contract of employment was not consistent with the employee’s staff handbook. The XpertHR “how to” on writing and amending an employee handbook provides a step-by-step guide to putting together a handbook.

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
Know how to get the most out of IT
next post
Respect, discipline and great management; the makings of a world beating team!

You may also like

Fire and rehire: the relocation question

22 May 2025

Black security manager awarded £360k after decade of...

20 May 2025

Minister defends Employment Rights Bill at Acas conference

16 May 2025

CBI chair Soames accuses ministers of not listening...

16 May 2025

EHRC bows to pressure and extends gender consultation

15 May 2025

Contract cleaner loses EAT race discrimination appeal

14 May 2025

Construction workers win compensation claim against defunct employer

9 May 2025

Zero-hours workers’ rights to be extended from beyond...

8 May 2025

NHS worker awarded £29k after Darth Vader comparison

8 May 2025

Employment tribunal backlog up 23% in a year

7 May 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+