Mr E Jenami v Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance (a charity) — 2024

At the preliminary hearing on 19 April 2024, the claimant had withdrawn his religion/belief discrimination claim and said he did not intend to pursue breach of contract. The reserved judgment nonetheless records the breach of contract claim as dismissed upon withdrawal. The only substantive issue left for determination was whether Mr E Jenami was an employee of Elim Foursquare Gospel Alliance for the purposes of an unfair dismissal claim under section 230 ERA 1996.

The tribunal accepted that Mr Jenami had originally been employed as Personal Assistant to the Senior Pastor at Feltham, but found that after that role was made redundant in November 2019 he was offered a full-time trainee pastor role linked to his Minister in Training programme. He was later appointed Pastor of Hayes in April 2022. The judge found that he was told at the time that the role was that of an officeholder, that no written employment contract or job description was provided, and that the respondent’s constitution and working arrangements for ministers formed part of the arrangements governing the relationship.

Applying Preston (formerly) Moore v President of the Methodist Conference, Ready Mixed Concrete and Autoclenz, the tribunal concluded that the ministerial arrangements were not intended to be legally enforceable and were consistent with officeholder status rather than employment. The judge relied on the claimant’s autonomy, the absence of fixed hours, discretion over holiday, self-employed national insurance treatment, the provision of a manse, and the constitution’s treatment of ministers as officeholders outside civil court jurisdiction on discipline, removal and grievances. The tribunal therefore held that there was no intention to create legal relations and, in any event, any arrangement would not have been a contract of employment.

On that basis, the unfair dismissal claim failed because Mr Jenami was not an employee within section 230 ERA 1996 and so could not bring a claim under section 94 ERA 1996. No monetary award was made.