Major NI insurance firm criticised in tribunal

Anne McLarnin, a single mother of two, had worked for Abbey Insurance Brokers for 16 years and was aged 48 when she left the company last summer.

An industrial tribunal heard her claim that the firm had attempted to push her to move and accept demotion.

The tribunal found the company – which has 15 branches across the Province – had breached its contract with her and committed “a fundamental breach of the implied term of trust and confidence”, and that its actions amounted to unfair dismissal.

At the centre of the case lay a mobility clause within the contract, designed to allow the firm to move its employees elsewhere if needs be.

Ms McLarnin had been promoted to manager of the Newforge branch of the company in 2014, having previously worked as a “sales technician”.

Her basic salary was £34,000 and she was also entitled to a £1,500 “shift allowance”, as well as monthly bonuses of up to £1,200 – a package which, taken together, would have amounted to £49,900.

In spring 2015, a decision was taken by the firm that “it would be necessary to transfer the claimant out of its Newforge branch”.

Ms McLarnin was told “the board had lost confidence in the claimant as manager”.

She was offered a job in Lisburn with a salary of £24,000 per annum, plus a guaranteed bonus of £1,500 for three months after that – which she was later told would be upped to six months.

She was told there were “no other options”.

She was subsequently suspended, and later resigned from the firm.

The company had said it was “perfectly entitled to move you wherever and whenever the need arises to work in another branch”.

A clause in Ms McLarnin’s contract stated: “Your normal place of work will be at the Newforge Lane branch.

“You may be required to work at other locations, offices and/or sites as determined by the needs of the business.”

In its ruling, the tribunal found: “The mobility clause as drafted in our view shows a discretion on the part of the employer to redeploy employees; it does not allow them to demote individuals or unilaterally to reduce their pay.”

It concluded: “The respondent has not produced any evidence to show that such a dismissal was fair, and accordingly we find that the claimant was unfairly dismissed by the respondent.”

It told the firm to pay her £45,942.29.