Termination payments

[H2LO2]

Hi,

I hope some one can clarify the following for me. I was dismissed for some other substantial reason. I was not made redundant or agreed to a voluntary exit. I was not summarily dismissed. I was dismissed for some other substantial reason under unusual circumstances where no policy applied.

Section 12.6 of my contract states that "on expiry of the appropriate period of notice as set out above, your employment will terminate"

The employer paid me a PILON payment instead of allowing me to work out my notice period. There is no clause in my contract that allows for a lumpsum and I did not agree to it. A lumpsum was paid to me post-employment after the employer had dismissed me in breach of contract with less notice than I was entitled to.

I wrote to HMRC because the second payment although described by the employer as a PILON payment it was in fact a payment of damages for breach of contract.

HMRC now states that because there is a clause in my contract (section 12.7) that states that the employer can terminate my employment by "making a payment under the relevant provisions of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme" the payment I received was a contractual PILON.

The Civil Service Compensation Scheme applies in circumstances of Voluntary Exits, voluntary redundancies and compulsory redundancies. This scheme sets out what can be paid as compensation to staff that have been made redundant.

"The Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS) sets out the level of compensation that Government departments can pay their staff if they leave under a voluntary or compulsory redundancy scheme." (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/60888/Civil_20Service_20Compensation_20Scheme.pdf)

HMRC states that the payment the employer made me was a contractual PILON because in the annex-6f of the CSCS section 6.a states:

"6.a CILON
Where the notice period is not worked Compensation in lieu of notice (CILON) may be considered in exceptional circumstances. Employers have access to a calculator so they can calculate the loss of pension benefits. The CILON payment must be paid through the payroll as tax and NI will apply." (see https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/media/209023/annex-6f.pdf)

This does not make sense to me because I was not made redundant. The Employer terminated my contract and forced me to accept a payment in lieu of notice. The employer also did not pay me compensation for loss of pension.

Can anybody explain HRMC's conclusion. Is it the case that you can be compensated under the CSCS scheme when you are dismissed not because of redundancy but for some other substantial reason?