Finance manager at Bristol firm loses tribunal claim after moving to France against employer’s orders
A finance manager at a Bristol company who moved to France against her employer’s “express instructions” has lost her claim for unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal.
Iryna Malyk was sacked by Teleperformance Contact after relocating to France despite being told the move was not financially viable for the company and could present legal issues.
The Bristol tribunal heard Malyk had been employed as a European regional finance business partner at the company, a subsidiary of a French multinational that provides outsourced visa services to governments, since May 2022.
Her contract stated her principal place of work was her home in Bristol, with the address of the company also in the city.
Malyk told her manager Michael Aouate she wanted to relocate to France after her husband got a new job in 2024.
Aouate told her she could not work from France with a contract of employment based in the UK and there was no position available for her in France.
The tribunal was told that in a follow-up call, Aouate told Malyk she could not work on UK projects in France on a permanent basis because the laws are different and this would cause legal and tax issues.
Malyk argued her contract was fully remote and she believed she could work from anywhere.
Drussila Solomon, head of HR in the UK, told her she needed permission from her line manager to work in another country.
Aouate said the business did not offer the facility for employees to work remotely outside the country they were employed from and asked Malyk to review her decision, adding that if she decided to go ahead with the move she needed to resign.
Malyk moved to France anyway and continued working from her new home.
She was suspended and then dismissed following a disciplinary hearing for ignoring the company’s express instruction not to carry out her role from France.
The company said there was a risk it would be pursued by French authorities for breaking the law if she worked on a UK contract while living in France permanently.
Employment Judge Hazel Oliver found the reason for dismissal was not trivial and the instruction to work in the UK was reasonable in the circumstances.
Oliver said Malyk had argued she had acted openly and did not believe there was gross misconduct, and that the company’s actions were disproportionate.
She continued: “I do not agree. The instruction was reasonable in the circumstances, and the disciplinary action was pursued because [Ms Malyk] was continuing to refuse to comply despite having been warned about the consequences.”
